How long is forever?
by Aleria14
Summary: Nudge is transported to the future, after the Flock fought a new enemy, an agent from Itex. Once there, she learns what would happen to the Flock without her. Where did they all end up? Can she get them back together, or will she be stuck in the future?
1. Chapter 1

**Me: So, I was writing and reading emails when I got this idea! What would happen to the flock if the person that keeps them together goes missing?**

**Iggy: We all go spiraling out of control, and then we crash and burn!**

**Me: Umm.....okay, pretty much. So, my sister helped me write this (For those of you who have read Iggy Ramblings :D, you'll know that she's pretty funny) so I'm dedicating this story to her.**

**This story is dedicated to my little sister, Heather, who helped me with my, slightly crazy, ideas :D I hope that you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it :)**

**Iggy: Bell, you're forgetting something!**

**Me: Iggy, I NEVER forget ANYTHING!**

**Iggy: Bell, you forget EVERYTHING!!! As you also have forgotten the disclamer!**

**Me: But Iggy, I own all of you! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**

**Iggy: Bell, do you plan on getting sued?**

**Me: Nope. Cause I'm not going to!**

**Iggy: -growls- Bell.....**

**Me: -sighs- -grumbles- Fine....**

**-sings- Dis-dis-disclameeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr: I'm not a genius, I'm not Male and I'm not James Patterson, although I would love to be the creator of all these awesome characters! However, I don't disclaim Iggy. As he is MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Iggy: -sighs- NO I'M NOT!**

**Me: -mumbles- Fine, I don't own Iggy either.**

**Iggy: -smirks-**

**Me: Happy?**

**Iggy: Yep :D**

**Me: Okay, here you go guys. I hope that you like it :D**

**Iggy: WE hope that you like it!**

**Me: Na, his opinions don't count!**

**Iggy: YES THEY DO!**

**Me: -sighs- Just read the story please........**

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**(Nudge Pov.....just in case you didn't know)**

Have you ever felt like you were unimportant or not needed? Well, I have so many times in my life, mostly because of our life style. Of course we didn't really have a choice in how we lived our lives; being chased by Erasers/Flyboys/M-Geeks, being mutants, being on the run etc, but there were times when I felt like my family didn't need me. Sure, I was the one that over talked all the time and someone would either tell me to shut up or cover my mouth with their hand before I got to finish my rambling. But, apart from those moments, I was just 'the other bird kid.' I also felt like I wasn't as important to the group as Max or Fang were. But one day.............that all changed.

This is my story.

And the Flock will never understand what happened that day the way that I do........

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On the day when everything changed for me, I woke up and looked around the cold, damp cave to find everyone, except for Iggy, still sleeping. I slowly opened my eyes and quietly wandered to the edge of the cave and looked out at the sky. It looked beautiful that morning and I felt the soft morning breeze on my face as it blew my hair back in tangled strands. I inhaled the crisp air and let out a satisfied sigh. I couldn't wait until we were flying again.

"Uh, morning," I heard someone say behind me.

I turned to find Iggy staring in my direction with a confused look on his face. I guess he didn't know who had gotten up and randomly wandered to the edge of the cave.

"Morning, Ig," I answered shortly which was unusual for me. I didn't really feel like talking this early in the mornings, however I knew that I'd be back to my talkative self again later on in the day.

Iggy smiled, "breakfast in ten."

"Really? What are we having? I hope that you didn't decide to cook desert rat like Fang did that one time. It was truly and utterly disgusting you know!"

Iggy sighed. "No, Nudge, I found a frying pan and used the eggs we bought from the store yesterday."

At this, I smiled knowing that we wouldn't have to eat desert rat again. _YUCK!_

"Thanks Iggy," I answered happily and as he walked back to tend to the fire. I then sighed and sat happily on the edge with my legs dangling over the side. I guess that some people would feel nervous about sitting on the edge with such a sheer drop to the ground, but, considering the whole 'wings' thing, us bird kids never worried about silly things like that.

After a few minutes, someone else joined me.

"Hey sweetie, did you have a nice sleep?" Max asked as she wrapped an arm around me.

"Yeah, I had this awesome dream where we were shopping at this huge store and everything was beautiful. There were so many shoes and clothes with anything that you could imagine......"

I trailed off as I realized that Max had got a faraway look in her eyes as if she wasn't listening.

"Max?" I asked as I waved a hand in front of her face.

She seemed to snap out of it and she shook her head.

"What's wrong? Is it the voice again? Or were you just not interested in the dream that I had or-"

"No Nudge, it's nothing. C'mon, we better wake the Flock up for breakfast before we move on........."

"Where are we going this time? Is it somewhere nice? Like, Paris! I loved Paris! Are we going there-"

"No, I got directions from the voice again. So we're going to follow them and see where they lead."

I thought about this for a moment. I wondered where we would be going this time.

Max sighed as she stood up and walked back into the cave, clapping her hands and shouting, "Come on everyone! Up and at 'em, it's morning and we need to get moving soon!"

I grinned as I heard everyone start to groan as they got up. I was about to follow Max, when I saw something out in the distance. At first it looked like a flock of birds or something, but as it came closer, I realized that they weren't birds.

I turned and rushed into the cave.

"Max! Flyboys are coming this way!"

Everyone immediately stiffened and stood up, ready for action as we always were. Max immediately took charge.

"Everyone stay here, and no matter what happens, don't move from this spot! Got it!?"

We all nodded and she whispered something to Fang and tapped Iggy's hand twice before running to the edge of the cliff, and hiding behind a large rock.

Iggy grabbed my arm and started to drag me to the back of the cave where the rest of the flock were waiting behind another large boulder.

"Why are we hiding? Shouldn't we be helping Max!?" I whispered feeling stressed.

Iggy just shrugged before replying.

"I don't know, but we need to trust Max on this one."

I nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see it, and then said "okay."

He nodded back and then we all went back to the scene at hand. Max seemed to look at the flyboys and calculate her odds. There were only about ten or so, so she just shrugged her shoulders and went into battle.

After about a minute of this, Fang spoke up.

"We can't just stand here while she's fighting them alone! I need to do something!"

And he ran out of the cave towards the battle scene.

"Fang! Max said not to-" Iggy started before sighing and turning to me. "Nudge, stay with Gazzy and Angel, okay?"

"Alright," I answered as he ran out into battle too.

"This isn't good," Gazzy muttered.

"I know, they shouldn't be going against Max's orders like that. She's going to get really angry....." Angel replied.

"But they needed to help her! We couldn't just stand around and do nothing while she fought the flyboys by herself! Even Max needs backup!" I replied in a whisper, before I turned to watch the older kids fight. But, to my horror, more flyboys appeared at the entrance and came rushing into battle. I quickly counted the odds......and they weren't good.

"Come on," I shouted over the noise. And the three of us rushed into the battle.

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**Me: Okay guys, this is just a starter chapter and the action doesn't start until _next _chapter....**

**Iggy: This was just a filler because she needed someway to set the scene....**

**Me: Wow, you actually understood what I was doing with this chapter?**

**Iggy: -nods-**

**Me: Well then, please hit the green button below cause I wanna know what you guys think about my new story, as I'm not sure if I should continue it....**

**Iggy: -whispers- She really wants to continue it though!**

**Me: -glares- **

**R&R?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!**

**Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE!!!!! Please all you awesome people out there! PLEASE-**

**Iggy: Stop pleading!!!**

**Me: -sighs-**

**Bell and Ig :D**


	2. Chapter 2: Forever?

**Me: Hi guys! Here's another chapter :D**

**Iggy: Alright Bell, tell them. Someone guessed so you need to tell everyone now, just like we agreed!**

**Me: -sighs- Okay, well done to 'The Nemean Lion' Who guessed where the plot came from. It happened in a cartoon that I used to watch called 'Teen Titans,' and it made me wonder what would happen if the flock were put in the same situation as they were.**

**Iggy: -sighs- Which means putting us through the pain of losing our blabbermouth sister......**

**Me: Yep. So, now I also disclaim ownership over the plot as most of the ideas belong to the creators of the Teen Titans. But don't worry, there won't be any references to them in this fic as it isn't a crossover. Now, without further ado, thanx to:**

**Nova Ride  
The Nemean Lion  
6464MiniDiceofRandomness  
Midge 1012  
Rainbow Wings**

**You guys are the first reviewers which makes me very happy and you should feel special! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D**

**Iggy: But you're not as special as Bell.**

**Me: Aww, Ig :D Thanx :D:D:D:D -huggles Iggy-**

**Iggy: -smirks- No-one can be as _special _as Bell is!**

**Me: -stops huggining and whacks with herring- That was mean!**

**Iggy: On with the chapter?**

**Me: -sighs- Fine, but this isn't over! Here you go guys :D**

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My fist connected with a flyboys head and I heard the pleasurable sound of its head snapping off. One then kicked me hard in the back and I staggered forwards taking in a deep breath before turning around and sending a roundhouse kick into its chest. It fell back and I was about to go onto the next one when all the flyboys suddenly stopped and straightened up. The flock and I looked at each other with puzzled looks for a minute, before the flyboys all turned and left out the cave entrance.

"What was that all about?" Gazzy asked curiously.

Max shrugged and then turned to the rest of us with a stern expression on her face. It then went from a stern look to a look of anger as she turned to Fang.

"Why did you follow me after I ordered you not to!?" She asked angrily and Fang looked alarmed.

"I didn't want you to get hurt...." He muttered under his breath.

"But you endangered everyone else, Fang! And Iggy, what were you doing!?" She shouted as she turned to Ig.

"Me!? I was going after that idiotic protective boyfriend of yours, after he rushed out here!" Iggy shouted.

"WHAT!? I'm not _that_ overprotective and I'm not idiotic! Max needed backup!"

"But there were only ten of them. She could have handled them herself!" Gazzy butted in as he stepped forward.

"Yeah, but even Max needs back up! Maybe it was best that Fang came to help!" Angel shouted to her brother.

"But still, I told you not to come out and you disobeyed my orders! You shouldn't have done that!" Max shouted at Fang again.

Fang rolled his eyes, "There weren't that many, but I thought that you could use some help!"

"Well, you thought wrong! You could have gotten everyone killed!" Max countered with a snarl.

"THERE WERE TEN! It's not like they were going to kill all of us!"

Iggy then decided to break in. "But then there were more! We didn't know how many there were going to be but you still went anyway when Max said not to......"

And after that everyone began shouting at each other over nothing _that_ important. We never used to fight like this, but lately it had become more regular and I had had about enough. My hands clenched into fists at my sides and my teeth clenched as I held back unwanted tears that threatened to fall down my cheeks any second. The noise in the cave started to build up until I couldn't even hear myself think anymore.......but then I exploded.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted so loudly that it echoed off the walls.

Everyone stopped and turned to me in shock. I felt the tears roll down my cheeks and I let them fall. I didn't care anymore.

My family was falling apart and I had to stop it.

"Nudge, we're sorry it's just-"

"NO MAX! I'm sick of us always fighting! Have you noticed that it's becoming more and more regular!? I have, and I can't take it anymore!" I took a deep breath and then lowered my voice to a normal talking tone.

"Sometimes I wonder......how long we'll always be together as a family," I said, looking at each of them.

"We'll always be together Nudge," Angel stated simply, not moving from her spot.

"Forever."

I took in another deep breath.

"But how long is forever?"

Max was about to say something when the cave started to shake. We all looked around in alarm, before a huge horde of flyboys came in and quickly subdued us. We were then dragged, kicking and screaming, out of the cave until we were floating in the air without using our wings. I looked up to see a strange man who was floating on a platform. It was like nothing that I had ever seen before. It was a piece of metal that seemed to levitate in the air. He also was holding some sort of device which resembled an old fashioned clock with a gold face and black hands. He appeared to be in his twenties and had a brown beard and thick hair with a stunning grey suit and a large white coat loosely over the top. He clutched the clock-thing to his chest protectively, and looked us up and down as if we were the most disgusting things that he had ever seen.

"Alright, let's cut to the chase. Who are you and what do you want?" Max asked with menace in her voice. Even though she was being held back, she still managed to look threatening; a skill that I never had.

The man smirked and his platform moved until he was face to face with her.

"So, I guess that what they say about you is true, Maximum. No respect for adult authority?" He asked with a Scottish accent.

Max glared into his eyes, "Yeah, and that isn't about to change any time soon."

"I see. Well, if that isn't going to change, I guess that I should end this now then," he said as he withdrew a knife and placed it above her neck.

"NO!" Fang yelled and we all started to struggle desperately in the grasps of our captors.

But then I got an idea. The man was floating on a _metal _platform._ If I could just get one arm out, then I could........_

The flyboy quickly lost its grip on one of my arms and I turned on my magnetism. The platform came rushing toward me and I ducked just in time to watch it take out my flyboys with ease. I spread my wings and flapped to keep myself aloft.

And as for the man, he was falling at a very fast pace toward the ground below. I quickly decided that we could take him in for questioning, if I caught him, to find out who he worked for. I also didn't like the idea of killing people for hardly any reason at all.......

I started in a fast paced dive toward the man, but he pulled out his clock device and turned a dial on it. A dark, black portal like thing appeared below him and he fell through it, disappearing completely. I suddenly unfurled my wings and tried to stop myself from falling, but I was too late.

I fell through after the strange man in the grey suit.

The last thing I heard was someone screaming my name.

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I looked around and discovered that I was floating through this strange tunnel. There were clocks everywhere and they were ticking in that annoying way that they had. They were all different shapes and sizes and I was quickly rushing past all of them. I screamed, but quickly composed myself as I saw that man again, flying through it at a fast pace as was I. I narrowed my eyes, spread my wings and flapped as fast as I could to catch up to the man.

Eventually, I did, and I grabbed his ankle in an iron grip.

He grunted and looked down at me.

"Stupid kid!" He shouted as he attempted to kick me off him.

I held on as tight as I could but eventually let go, and settled for using my magnetism to steal his clock. It flew towards me and I gripped it to my chest. All of a sudden, the ticking clocks around us started to slow down......no, we were slowing down in speed.

"What have you done you little brat?" The man yelled angrily.

But that's all he had time to say, for he and I were quickly sucked into darkness.

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**Me: OOOOOOOOO! What will happen next? What is happening to Nudge? What happened to the flock? These questions will be answered in the next chapter :D**

**Iggy: And she STILL hasn't told me anything about what's going to happen!!!**

**Me: -snickers- You don't need to know :D You'll find out in the next chapter!**

**Iggy: -sighs- Fine.....**

**Me: Oh ,you guys should soooooo check out the Maximum Ride Fanfiction Awards: 2 By Myrah. You're able to cast your votes on who you think should win and-**

**Iggy: I've said this so many times now. Just check it out to shut her up! And it is quite interesting to look through and it'll give you ideas on what to read :D**

**Me: Yeah, what he said.**

**R&R?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?**

**The more reviews I get, the faster I update....I dunno, I guess that's just how I work :D I hoped that you enjoyed the chapter :D**

**Bell and Ig :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Where am I?

**Me: HEY! For all you Americans out there reading this, guess what time it is in Australia when I wrote this?  
I'll give you time to guess:**

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**Me: TWO IN THE MORNING!!!!!**

**Iggy: Now, would anyone like to ask why we are up at two in the morning?**

**Me: Iggy, why are we up at two in the morning?**

**Iggy: Because you were reading fanfiction and you suddenly got the urge to update this story!!!!**

**Me: -snickers- I just wanted to update cause I have a chapter written, but I was too lazy to put it up :D**

**Iggy: -sighs- Which lead to waking me up at two in the morning to help you write the author note.**

**Me: Yeah, pretty much. Thanx to:**

**Razamataz  
6464MiniDiceofRandomness  
Midge 1012  
Nova Ride  
Rainbow Wings**

**for all the reviews :D They made me happy :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D**

**Iggy: -yawns- Bell, Jov's asleep...**

**Me: Yeah, we had a party and she's reeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy tired.**

**Iggy: And why aren't you good like that?**

**Me: -shrugs- I don't get tired easily...**

**Iggy: Great, I get stuck with the person that stays up all the time....**

**Me: Whatever, on with the chapter!!!!**

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I woke up on a large bed in a very old rundown apartment. The walls were an ugly green color that I wouldn't recommend for my worst enemies to wear. The plaster was also staring to fall away and crack because of age. There was one small window, but that was the only source of light and the room was extremely cramped, making it hard to move around.

My eyes then wandered over the bed that I was lying on, with its tattered blankets and old dirty pillows. I slowly sat up and looked around, bewildered, trying to figure out where I was. I then realized that I still had that weird clock thing with me, but it was broken. The face had a large crack across the front of its and the hands weren't moving like they used to. I tapped it with my finger, but got no response. I sighed and walked over to the window and looked out.

To put it simply, I was horrified by what I saw.

I couldn't see the sky at all! There was just this layer of smog that seemed to linger over the city like a blanket. Cars were speeding up and down the ugly tarmac roads and letting out _more _exhaust fumes as they went along. But what really surprised me the most was the city. The buildings all looked the same as before, apart from one small difference.......

Most had 'Itex' signs written across the tops.

_This doesn't make any sense! _I thought angrily. _Where am I?_

I angrily turned away from the window and picked the clock up off the bed. I then opened the door and was about to storm out when I stopped dead in my tracks. I was in a living room and the TV was quietly playing some random show that I'd never seen in my life. But what shocked me wasn't what was on the television; it was the fact that there was a person sitting on the sofa with a beer watching the TV. And as soon as I had opened the door, the man had become alarmed and stood up. He turned to face me, eyes wild, and looked around the room with a frightened expression. He wore an old dark blue jumper, and ripped and tattered jeans. In his hand, he held one of those white stick things that blind people used to find their way around..........

And that's when it hit me.

He also had strawberry blonde hair and blue unseeing eyes.

I knew him.

But what I didn't understand was that this man was in his twenties, and Iggy was only fourteen last time I checked.

"Who's there?!" He asked pointing the stick in my direction, threatening me with it. He slowly approached, moving his stick to and fro, until he gently tapped my leg.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my apartment?!" He asked angrily.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Iggy looked like he had gone mad. Where were the rest of the flock? What happened?

Tears started to flow down my cheeks for the second time that day.

"Iggy," I whispered, holding back a sob. "What happened to you?"

Iggy's eyes widened in horror as he heard my voice but, after a few minutes, he just shook his head sadly, before returning to the sofa.

"I'm hearing the voices again.......all the time.......never leave me alone.........Nudge is gone........they all are.........never coming back......" He muttered as he went back to listening to the TV.

I put the clock on a small spare table before walking over and kneeling in front of the sofa. I then took both his hands in mine. "Iggy, it's me. You're not imagining this! I fell through a portal thing and ended up here. Please help me, I'm so confused! I don't know what to do and....." I trailed off as more tears fell down my cheeks, and I began sobbing into his jeans.

After a few moments of this, he moved and sat down next to me. With tears in his own eyes, he wrapped his arms around me. "Nudge....." He murmured quietly.

"Yeah," I managed to get out.

"It's been a long time," he said quietly.

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After a few minutes, we then separated from the hug and he trailed his light fingers across my face lightly like feathers. "But, you sound and feel the same. How can this be?"

"I'm not sure, but it has something to do with a clock thing that I found."

"So.....................time travel?" Iggy asked, raising an eyebrow.

I never thought of that. Leave it to Iggy to come up with something completely unexpected.

"I guess so.......Iggy, what happened to the flock?" I asked.

Iggy's expression changed from happiness, to immense sadness. I was suddenly afraid of the answer to my question.

"After you and the man left through that portal thing, the flyboys split us up. We easily found each other again, but it ended up in a fight. We then went our separate ways and did different things........That was six years ago Nudge."

I looked at him in disbelief.

"But, you were a family! How could you break up after one meaningless fight?!" I honestly didn't know what to say. _I, NUDGE, _was speechless! I couldn't believe that the flock weren't together anymore.

"It was.........it was a big fight." Iggy said biting his lip.

"Why didn't you get back together?! We were supposed to be together forever! Remember? IGGY!" I shouted.

This couldn't be true, I wouldn't believe it. Suddenly something clicked.

"Wait a minute! How could this be the flocks fault? This whole problem started when the guy in the grey suit came into our lives. So, all we have to do is find him and get him to fix all this!"

Iggy sighed, "What do you mean 'we?'" He asked as he got up and started to wander into the corner (which looked like a kitchen), crashing into a chair on the way. He filled up a cup of water and came back to the sofa, managing to crash into the same chair on the way.

"I can't find my way around like I used to, Nudge."

"What do you mean?" I asked feeling confused.

"What I mean is, after the flock split up, I started to find it harder and harder to get around. I forget where things are and, well, I'm just hopeless, okay?!" He said sounding angry. Not at me, but more at himself.

I sat on the sofa with him and squeezed his hand. "It's okay Iggy. You'll have me, come on, we'll go find the flock. And then we'll fix all this!"

Iggy sighed and then shook his head, "Nudge, I-I'm not going with you. You don't want me with you, I'll just hold you back, trust me."

I started to get angry, "You won't hold me back! I need you to help me, how can you turn me down?! I'm family!" I shouted at him, feeling overwhelmed in anger.

"BECAUSE!" Iggy shouted back as he reached into his pocket and handed something to me. It was a container. I read the label and then my eyes widened in shock.

Antidepressants.

Iggy was on drugs.

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**Iggy: So....I'm some crazy crackpot on drugs?**

**Me: -thinks- Yeah.**

**Iggy: Okay then. I can't wait to find out what has become of Max then.**

**Me: You will soon, I already have that chapter written, so it should be VERY soon :D Now, I'm so tired that I can hardly keep my eyes open! BED?!**

**Iggy: PLEASE!!!**

**Me and Ig: Night everyone :D**

**Bell and Ig :D**


	4. Chapter 4: First stop

**Iggy: What a depressing chapter...**

**Me: Yeah, I know....I felt sad while writing this....**

**Iggy: The why did you write it like that?**

**Me: -shrugs- This is just what I think would happen in the situation.....**

**Iggy: Whatever...**

**Me: So, I don't know if this is realistic enough for you, but this is just what I'm assuming :D**

**Iggy: Yes, and what she assumes is scaring me**

**Me: Well, don't split the flock up and then you won't have this problem**

**Iggy: Okay, well tell me why we had a fight and then I'll make sure that it never happens...**

**Me: Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me Ig, a lot of you reviewers asked what the fight was about. But I'm not going to tell you ;)**

**Iggy: Aww, come on Bell!**

**Me: -shakes head- You'll find out in one of the chapters.....**

**Iggy: Which one?**

**Me: -shrugs- One near the end**

**Iggy: Well, you'd better hurry up and write the story then!**

**Me: Fine, I will. Thanx to:**

**Kara Nicole  
Midge 1012  
Kelsey Goode  
I Talk A Lot  
6464MiniDiceofRandomness (Love the name btw)**

**I got so many reviews!!!**

**Iggy: Well, not that many....**

**Me: In my opinion we got a lot and I'm thanking you all soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!**

**Iggy: Okay........right.**

**Me: I give you all virtual hugs! And I'm going to give real hugs to Iggy to symbolise the virtual ones! -huggles Iggy-**

**Iggy: -sighs- On with the story...**

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I stared at the bottle and then back at Iggy.

"Why?" I asked quietly, not sure what else to say. Jeez, I was really starting to lose my talkativeness lately.....

Iggy seemed to stare at his hands, neatly folded in his lap.

"To.......to forget," he murmured quietly. "After we broke up, I couldn't........I just couldn't......."

This was the weakest that I'd ever seen Iggy, ever. And, if he was like this, I didn't want to imagine what everyone else would be like.

"Iggy, if you can't help me, I'm going to try to get someone else to help." I took a deep breath. "What became of the flock?"

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I flew gracefully through the smog, trying not to breath too much of it in. Everything looked so different compared to six years ago.....

"_Since the flock split up, _

_we didn't destroy Itex. _

_We didn't stop global warming. _

_We didn't save the world........"_

Iggy's words ran through my head. Itex still existed, but as a much bigger organisation instead of a small unnoticeable company. And it was all because of T.G.......

_Before the flock broke up, we found out that the man was from the future, he worked for Itex and he called himself T.G.G, T.G for short, which stands for The Greater Good....._

I didn't really understand why T.G had come back in time or why he attacked us and neither did Iggy. That was the only information that they knew about him.

I suddenly found myself hovering over a very familiar house that the flock had spent so much time in. It was the one place that we had actually considered a home, apart from the E-shaped house. It still had a stunning garden but the house in comparison looked old and worn-down.

I landed gracefully in the garden and slowly walked to the door. Everything looked so familiar but, at the same time, it felt like I'd never been here before.

I lifted my fist and pounded on the door, just hoping that Iggy was right.

_If I remember correctly, Max stayed with her mom, Dr. Martinez, and her sister, Ella....._

I heard the door slowly unlock and open with a loud high pitched creak. Someone peeked around the door and only opened it about two centimetres, just enough to look through.

"Umm, hello? I'm looking for, uh........." I didn't really know who I was looking for. Did she still call herself Maximum Ride, or did she change her name? I just decided to ask for Dr. Martinez.

"Dr. Martinez," I said quietly. "Is she here?"

The girl seemed to shake their head and was about to shut the door when I blocked it with my hand.

"If she isn't here, then I'm looking for Maximum Ride.....Is she there?"

The girl's eyes seemed to widen as she tried to shut the door, but once again I stopped her.

"Who are you?" I asked trying to peek further into the darkness of the house. I managed to catch a glimpse of the person's eyes. They were brown and they had dark rings around them.

"Max? It's me Nudge," I said still holding the door. "Please let me come in so we can talk."

I moved my hand and hoped that she'd open the door. I took a step back and waited for a minute, before she shut the door.

I sighed and hung my head. I was about to try another one of Iggy's addresses when the door slowly creaked open until I was able to see her. She had long dark blonde hair that was messy and tangled, and it flowed down to the centre of her back. Her eyes were brown and bloodshot and had dark rings around them. She wore a pair of purple pyjamas and bunny slippers and she clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides.

Like whenever Max did when she was nervous.

"Max!" I shouted as I ran and wrapped her in a tight hug. She hesitated for a moment before slowly wrapping her arms around me too.

"N-N-Nudge," she stuttered. Her voice was hoarse and ruff, like she hadn't spoken for a while.

I looked up at her and realized, to my disbelief, that Max was crying. Max never cried.

"Can I come in? Or would you rather stay out here? I don't mind but I thought that it would be better to go inside where it's warm to talk or something. I don't know, what do you want to do?"

Max just smiled, took my hand and led me inside the house.

I looked around and discovered that everything was the same as it used to be. I could even smell the faint scent of chocolate chip cookies wafting in from the kitchen. I looked around in amazement, still uncertain of what I was supposed to be doing.

I turned to Max and saw that her gaze was directed at the floor. She was so......different. She had said nothing to me apart from my name since I had arrived. I was waiting for some witty comment or remark, or the felling her arms around me, comforting me and telling me that everything was going to be alright and we'd get through this.

But she said nothing. She didn't even meet my eyes. She looked so afraid and vulnerable, not like Max at all.

I suddenly heard hurried footsteps rushing down the hall.

"Max? Who was at the-" But she stopped when she saw me.

The beautiful woman was a few years younger than Max with dark hair pulled back in a tight pony tail and her iPod blearing in her ears so loudly that I could faintly hear it.

Ella

She stared at me in shock and then back at Max who continued to avoid her gaze.

"Nudge?" She asked so quietly that I could barely hear.

I opened my mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again and simply nodded.

Ella's legs seemed to give way and she sat on the couch, continuing to stare at me.

"But, how?"

I sighed. How was I going to explain this?

"I'm assuming that Max told you what happened six years ago?"

Ella looked at her half sister sadly and then shook her head.

I looked at Max with a frown on my face, not sure as to what was going on. "But, why not? I thought that she would tell you what happened and why everyone broke up and stuff....."

"Umm.....Max doesn't speak anymore," She answered with sadness in her voice. "When she came here, she didn't tell us what happened or why the flock weren't with her. All she said was 'Can I please stay with you?' And mom let her stay. She didn't say anything after that. Mom has been trying to get her help but she doesn't co-operate."

Well, at least one thing hadn't changed. Since when did Max co-operate with anyone?

Ella raised her eyebrows at me and I told her my story. When I talked about Iggy, I saw Max glance at me for a moment with the same light in her eyes that she used to have, but it was quickly gone before I got a better look.

I ended my story with how I ended up here.

Ella looked at me bewildered and nodded her head slowly. "I guess that explains why you look the same as you did six years ago......."

I nodded and looked at Max. Her eyes were dead and they didn't contain one ounce of emotion in them..........

"_Nudge, I'm not sure that you should be doing this. The flock have changed so much in the past six years......"_

"_It's okay Iggy, I'll be fine. It's not like I'm-"_

"_But you don't understand. I don't think that you'll be able to face the truth without getting hurt......."_

I understood what he meant now. But that didn't mean that I couldn't fix things!

"Max, this isn't how things are meant to be! We need to find T.G and get him to fix the wrongs that he's done on our past! We can do this, but I need your help!"

Max lifted her head to meet my gaze. Her eyes were so cold and expressionless that I had to try hard not to look away. I missed how she used to look at me with love and trust.........but those days were gone.

She looked at me for a minute before slowly shaking her head.

"No," she whispered quietly, looking at the floor again.

Ella leaned forward in her chair in shock when she heard her sister speak.

"Y-you can't ch-change the past N-nudge," she stuttered, her voice shaking the whole time she spoke. "Th-they're gone a-and we can't get them b-back....."

I watched as more tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't try to conceal them, she didn't try to be strong for me, she just slumped in a chair and dropped her head into her hands.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"What happened to you?!" I shouted angrily at her.

She immediately looked up, shocked that I had yelled at her.

"You are _Maximum Ride!_ The strongest person that I know! Six years ago I looked up to you and trusted you! You were like a mother to us and you always knew what to say when things got tough, and now you're sitting here when you could be out with me and helping to save the flock! OUR FAMILY! What happened to the great leader that talked back to the whitecoats and made us feel better?

"What happened to Maximum Ride?!"

When I finished my rant, I breathed deeply and looked at both of the astonished girls sitting on the couches. Silently, Max got up and walked down the hallway towards her room.

I sighed and headed for the door.

"Say hi to your mom for me, Ella. It was good to see you again," and with that, I opened the door and took off.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************

**Me: Aww....what happened to Max?**

**Iggy: Uh, you should know as you wrote it!**

**Me: Oh yeah....Why am I asking questions?**

**Iggy: Dunno, maybe you've lost it?**

**Me: Na, I lost it a long time ago.....**

**Iggy: We all know that Bell.**

**Me: Anyway, I won't tell you where Nudge goes next as it would ruin the surprises that are coming up ;)**

**Iggy: And, from what I've heard, they aren't happy surprises...**

**Me: Well, the story will gradually get happier as it goes along, I promise. Now, I want to know what you guys think so I'm giving you a choice :D Now, where do you want Nudge to go next?**

**To Fang**

**To Gazzy**

**To Angel**

**To Total**

**When you review, just put in who you want Nudge to visit, and I'll count up the tally at the end :D**

**Iggy: So, you're giving power to the reviewers?**

**Me: FIGHT THE POWER!!!!!!!!!**

**Iggy: Okay...**

**R&R?!**

**Bell and Ig :D**


	5. Chapter 5: Iggy was right

**Me: Well, uh, I know this chapter is really short, but's it's a filler chapter. -sighs- This is the shortest chapter that I've ever written.....**

**Iggy: I know, usually you have to shorten the chapters because they're too long! This is weird....**

**Me: -sighs- I know, I'm just having trouble with the in between sections. I know where the story is going and who she's going to next, but I need to have a small chapter for this- You'll see what I mean**

**Iggy: And where is Nudge going next?**

**Me: I'll read it to you in a minute. I'm not giving anything away though ;D**

**Iggy: I hate it when you get all secretive...**

**Me: -snickers- Now, thanx to:**

**Midge 1012  
Kara Nicole  
Alaina  
Kelsey Goode  
StarofCalamity  
Anon  
6464MiniDiceofRandomness  
rainbowstrike  
confidential  
hands&bowlsofcookedspaghetti  
The Nemean Lion  
Rainbow Wings **

**I got lots of reviews and I thank all of you wonderfull people for them!!!!!**

**Iggy: Bell? Is it me, or are we running out of stuff to talk about in the author note?**

**Me: It's you. I have something that I forgot to bring up.....**

**Iggy: What?**

**Me: In one of my favourite fanfics, New Girl by Kara Nicole, Iggy does something really embarrassing!!**

**Iggy: -looks alarmed- Oh no....**

**Me: Oh yes.......Now this is how Kara described the scene:  
He was in a blue flowing dress, with matching colored high heels. He had glistening pink lip gloss on, and when his brow furled with anger you could see the silver eye shadow on him.**

**He then had to run down the street screaming, "Embrace the woman in you!"**

**Now, you have to admit, that sounds funny right? But, when you read it.......it's HILARIOUS!!!!!!!**

**Iggy: I'm just gonna go crawl into a hole and die**

**Me: -snickers- You go do that. EVERYONE READ KARA'S STORY! IT IS HILARIOUS!!!!!! **

**This chapter is dedicated to Kara Nicole and her awesome stories for giving me great humiliation material for Iggy :D (And something to talk about in the author note.....)**

* * *

I took off into the air and the tears rolled freely down my cheeks from the wind, and because of what I'd just witnessed.

Iggy was right.

I couldn't face the truth, it hurt too much. I just didn't understand how Max could give up so easily! The real Max would never back down when it came to saving her family! But I guess that times change. And without Max, I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop T.G and fix the damage that he'd done to my past. There was nothing that I could do and I knew that I was going to be stuck here forever......

"_Snap out of it! Being in the flock is more than just about having wings. You're different from the other people all the way down to your bones and blood cells."_

I landed on the ground with a thud and sat down. I brought my knees up to my chest and placed my forehead on my knees. I realized where I'd heard that before. It was so clear now. It was when I just wanted to be normal, and to give up on being a bird kid.....being in the flock........

Only now I realize how stupid I was being......

"_What I mean is, you're special, every bit of you. More special than any kid in the whole world, including the ones you want to be like. You're beautiful, and powerful, and unique. Kids without wings don't have your strength, your smarts, your determination. _

_"Remember the guy in the junkyard when we were stealing those bits of cable? Whose idea was it to hit him with a two-by-four, huh? Yours!_

"_Remember when Gazzy was really starting to imitate things, all the time, and he kept sneaking up on us and making a police siren-sound, and we'd always freak? Who was it who taped his mouth shut with duct tape while he slept? You.........."_

Max had comforted me when I thought that I just couldn't go on. At the time, I didn't believe her, but now I do.......

_And who is it that shouldn't give up when things get tough?_

This one wasn't Max's voice.....

It was my own.

I guess that deep down, I knew what I had to do.....

_I'm the only one that can stop this now, and I can't give up on my family! This isn't right and I'm going to fix it, no matter what happens!!!_

I stood up and took to the air again, my blood boiling and ready to take on whatever was going to come my way.

* * *

After a while of flying, I realized that it was starting to get late. I used my raptor vision to find a cave and I landed in an exhausted heap on the floor. I propped my back up against the wall and looked out over the sunset in the direction that I was going next. I knew exactly where I was going, how long a flight that it would be and how I was going to get there. I also knew who I was going to meet there, if Iggy was right of course, but, after seeing Max, I didn't know what to expect. How much would_________have changed? Would___________still be the same person that I knew and loved?

I was scared, but I knew that I had to do this.

After all, I was the only one left now.

I slowly closed my eyes and rolled my shoulder blades against the hard, cold rock of the cave wall. I replayed Iggy's words in my head before I fell asleep.

"_I'm not too certain as to where___________ended up. But I think that__________was captured by the school in Death Valley....."_

I just couldn't hear the name clearly in my head as it seemed so distant. Mabe it was my fear playing tricks on me, or the fact that I was so exhausted that I could hardly stay conscious.

I fell asleep that night thinking of him.

_Fang, I'm coming for you......._

_

* * *

_

**Me: And there you go. I decided that she needed to go find Fang next, as most of you wanted. But, as you've seen in the last chapter, things don't always turn out in ways that we expect.**

**Iggy: -nods- That sounded scary**

**Me: What?**

**Iggy: The way that you said that.....**

**Me: Well, I'm not giving any clues as to what has become of Fang, but don't expect it to be all Lolli-pop's and daisies....**

**Iggy: Lolli-pop's and daisies?!?!?!?!? What are you on and where do I get some?**

**Me: NOTHING! It was just the first thing that popped into my head.....and, why have you forgiven me so quickly?**

**Iggy: -shrugs- I got over it**

**Me: No, that was a little too fast.....What are you up to?**

**Iggy: Nothing, honestly....**

**Me: -sighs- I know you're up to something and I'm gonna find out what........**

**R&R!?!?!**

**Now, I know that it's just a filler, but that's no excuse to not review. I want to know if you guys are enjoying my story?**

**Iggy: -smiles evilly-**

**Me: -sighs- This can't be good......**

**Bell and Ig :D**


	6. Chapter 6: The school? Really?

**Me: -sighs- Sorry guys. But this is ANOTHER filler chapter.....**

**Iggy: You're taking forever to get to Fang!!**

**Me: I know, but I need to get there first. I planned on having him in this chapter, but it got too long. I promise that he will be in the next chapter! I swear!**

**Iggy: -sighs-**

**Me: What?**

**Iggy: -shrugs-**

**Me: Iggy, I'm really not in the mood for this! I had testing ALL day and I couldn't go to any of my classes! We got one ten minute break and one five minute break in the space of 3 hours! We got to go to lunch and then I had to do ANOTHER test afterwards!!! **

**Iggy: And I had to got to classes with her friends the whole time because I couldn't exactly see the test paper....**

**Me: You are so freaking lucky!!! It was an awful test and now I'm exhausted!**

**Iggy: Yeah. You're friends are weird........and annoying.......**

**Me: I would rather of done MATH than done that test!!!**

**Iggy: -gasps-**

**Me: I know, shoking! Anyway, enough of my ranting. Thanx to:**

**StarofCalamity  
Kara Nicole  
Rainbow Wings  
Kelsey Goode (I decided to go with some of your idea, but bear with me please)  
Razamataz**

**Thanx guys for reviewing my filler chapter :D**

**Iggy: Even though it was completely boring beyone belief...**

**Me: -whacks- **

**Iggy: Okay, I deserved that. But I don't care! You wanna know why?**

**Me: -sighs- No I don't want to know**

**Iggy: Just ask why!**

**Me: -with mock enthuisiasm- WHY**

**Iggy: -smirks- THIRTEEN!!!**

**Me: -sighs- He's counting how many imaginary girlfriends he has.....You know, when people make OC's that end up dating Iggy?**

**Iggy: -smiles proudly-**

**Me: -sighs- TT2C**

**Iggy: What the hell?**

**Me: To Tired 2 Care**

**Iggy: Okay.....**

**Me: Yep, on with the chapter!  
**

* * *

"_And don't hurt _me_!" I yelled as Gazzy turned to face me. "Watch where you drop! You almost landed on me!"_

"_Sorry," Gazzy replied as he jumped into the air again._

_I sighed and dove back under the water._

_Anne's pond, more like freaking Olympic swimming pool, was huge and Gazzy just _had_ to land as close to me as possible. _

_I looked around through the surprisingly clear water and felt a smile spread across my lips as I saw Angel. She smiled back and waved. I returned the wave and moved my dark hair out of my face with my arm. Angel then pointed behind me. I turned and made out two pairs of legs under the water and a lot of splashing on the surface._

_Iggy and Fang_

_I smiled back at Angel._

_She didn't even have to use her mind reading powers to tell me what she wanted to do. I turned and Angel followed as we swam up to the two unsuspecting boys. Since they were splashing each other and there was so much noise going on above the water, I knew that Iggy and Fang wouldn't see or hear us in the middle of their splash war._

_When I was right behind Iggy, and Angel was behind Fang, our smiles grew bigger._

"_One.......two....." I heard Angel say in my head._

"_THREE!" And we both burst through the surface and pushed both boys into the water. Angel and I laughed while they both rose from the deep like sea monsters, gasping the air. Fang had his hair plastered to his face and it fell into his dark eyes as he glared at both of us. Iggy shook his head like a dog and I shielded my eyes and giggled as drops came flying everywhere._

_Fang looked at Iggy and, as if sensing it, he nodded. Iggy suddenly had a look on his face that I knew all too well._

_It was the same look that he and Gazzy had when they were up to something._

_We were sooooooo in for it now._

_Fang turned towards Angel with a grin and Iggy turned to me. Both boys quickly approached and Angel and I screamed as I tried to get away._

_But it was no use._

_Before I knew it I was locked in Iggy's tight grip. I struggled, screamed, and even kicked, but he wouldn't let go._

"_Iggy!!! Let me go!!!!"_

"_I don't think so Nudge," he replied with a grin._

_I was so going to get him later._

"_Angel!!!" I screamed and looked over to see that Fang had her in a tight grip as well._

"_Fang!" Angel giggled as she too tried to escape her attackers grip._

"_So, what do you suppose we do with them, Igs?" Fang asked with a smirk._

"_I dunno, Fang. Oh, wait, how about this?!" As he said these words, I felt myself flying through the air and landing with a loud splash in the water again. I heard a smaller splash shortly after mine. Angel turned to me and rolled her eyes before turning and beginning to swim towards the edge._

"_Where are you going?" I asked in my head._

"_To ask Max something," she replied, and I just shrugged. _

_I came up for air again and saw Fang and Iggy laughing and clutching their stomachs. I frowned and splashed them both continuously. Soon, the three of us were involved in a splash war....._

* * *

I woke up and looked around, completely forgetting where I was. But I quickly recalled yesterday's events as I looked around the cave. The sun had risen ages ago and I knew that I needed to keep moving. It would only take about an hour to get there if I flew quickly, and then I could move onto Gazzy and Angel.

I stood and walked over to the edge of the cave as I spread my wings wide, feeling heat of the morning sun on my feathers.

It felt good.

I jumped off the edge and headed towards the school

* * *

After an hour of flying, I could clearly see the school ahead of me. I picked up my speed in anticipation and I needed to be there before nine o'clock.

"_After Itex took over, different things happened. One of those things being the school became more public...."_

"_But why would people sit back while they did experiments on innocent kids, like us?! People wouldn't do that...would they? Isn't it illegal or something? Ter Borcht went to jail for that so-"_

"_NUDGE! Be quiet, please. I appreciate my hearing!"_

_I smiled. Iggy still had a sense of humour at least._

"_People didn't know about the illegal experimentation that they did. The tours only showed what they wanted people to see. About how they were the new institute for scientific investigation and how good they'll be for the future, yada, yada, yada......"_

"_Then, if they didn't do experiments on kids, then how can Fang be there?" I asked, trying to keep my questions short for Iggy's sake._

"_Oh, they still do experiments alright. Just, not in front of the public."_

"_So, what happened to Fang exactly?"_

"_As I said, I'm not sure. But I think that he may have given himself up to the school......"_

I hovered over the school. There were now roads, cars, stores and houses in Death Valley. There was a lot more traffic around the school than what I remembered there to be.

I landed behind the, now enormous, building and quietly walked around the corner. I saw all the people crowding around the door, waiting to go in. I rolled my eyes as I merged with the crowd. For once, there were people that wanted to go _into _the school! Usually the school got the opposite reaction.

And I couldn't believe that I was now going into the place that we spent our whole lives trying to get away from!

When I merged with the crowd, I immediately felt the claustrophobia closing in on me and breathed deeply. I felt my body tremble as I looked up at the immense building in front of me. I really didn't want to go in. Every muscle in my body was screaming for me to turn and run as far away from this place as I could, but I shut those feelings down.

_Fang was in there._

That was the only thought that kept me glued in place amongst the loud crowd of people.

"Okay, everyone, quieten down!" Someone shouted over the ruckus. Slowly the noise died down and stood on my tiptoes to see over everyone.

There was a man standing there with a white coat over the top of his green top and blue jeans. His light brown hair was spiked up and he looked to be about in his twenties.

And, get this, he wore a huge, genuine smile. Since when did white coats smile like that? Unless, of course, they were experimentingon you or poking you with a needle.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the scientific research facility,commonly known as the school. I'm glad that you could make it to our nine o'clock session today, and I'm sure that you'll enjoy your time looking at all the wonders that science has to offer. I'm Ryan and I'll be your guide for today. But before we go inside, I'd like to advise you to stay with the group at _all _times and not to go opening doors that you shouldn't as there are some projects that are top secret...." As Ryan said these words, his face became dead serious and he looked at us each in turn with his icy eyes. But before anyone without raptor vision noticed the look on his face, his smile returned and he clasped his hands together as nothing had happened.

If that wasn't suspicious I didn't know what was!

"Alrighty, there are some white coats on the hooks as you come in with visitor tags on them, so if you could please put those on when you come in. Okay, follow me."

And with that, we all trailed into the school.

* * *

**Me: OOOOO!!! They're going in! Sorry for another filler chapter, but I just needed to put it in, so bear with me :D**

**Iggy: And I'll make sure that she makes up for two filler chapters in a row by getting her to update soon!**

**Me: Yeah, yeah, but don't forget, I need to update Hidden secrets too!**

**Iggy: -sighs- Whatever, update both!**

**Me: I'll update soon, my friend Lola (If you've read Iggy Ramblings :D you should all know who she is) helped me with the idea for Fang :D So thanx Lola :D**

**Iggy: Bell, I highly doubt that she's reading this...**

**Me: -shrugs- I'll tell her that I mentioned her in my story and then she'll read it -smiles evilly-**

**Iggy: -sighs- Smart, real smart**

**Me: KRILL! YUM YUM YUM!!!!**

**Iggy: -smacks forehead- Any chance that you and Jov will get over that?**

**Me: Nope, none what so ever.**

**R&R!?!?!?!?!**

**Bell and Ig :D**


	7. Chapter 7: Fang?

**Me: Whoa, I haven't updated this in soooooooo long, so I decided to do it now before I forget**

**Iggy: -sighs- Bell doesn't have a good excuse as to why she hasn't updated, apart from her laziness!!**

**Me: HEY!!!! I had two tests this week and hardly any sleep! I fell asleep in the maths one for god sakes!!!!!! But, now I'm back and feeling better. However, I have four projects that are all due next week, so I might not update for a while -sighs- Just a warning. I MIGHT if I can find the time, but this mght be it for a little bit.....**

**Iggy: And you left them with a cliffie!!!**

**Me: Yeah, I know. So sorry guys. **

**Anyway, Thanx to:  
StarofCalamity  
Kara Nicole  
weirdpeopleruletheworld  
maxride333  
Rainbow Wings  
Razamataz  
Desdomena-Kali**

**All you guys are awesome and I send you millions of virtual hugs!!!**

**Iggy: Uh, right, Bell. You really have lost it**

**Me: Razamataz says that I never had it**

**Iggy: And I see why**

**Me: Well, at least you can see something**

**Iggy: -pokes- Shut up!**

**Me: -sighs- Iggy's found a way to annoy me without hurting me. -whacks with herring-**

**Iggy: -pokes-**

**Me: -whacks with herring-**

**Iggy: -pokes-**

**Me: -whacks with herring-**

**Iggy: -pokes-**

**Me: -whacks with herring- Okay, this is gonna be a while, so read the chapter**

**Iggy: -pokes-**

**Me: -growls-**

* * *

As soon as I walked in I was hit with that strong smell of antiseptic that I loathed. It still looked the same, except there were posters all over the walls, and built in windows were you could see Whitecoats working with chemicals to see the different reactions. And, once again, they were smiling brightly as if they didn't work in the depths of hell.

I took a deep breath and grabbed a white coat off a hook and looked at it in discust, but shoved it over my clothes anyway. I never thought that I'd actually ever wear one of these.

Everyone was talking excitedly as they watched the whitecoats mix some chemicals together making colors explode from the beaker in a sparkly mist. I shook my head and sighed. I knew that this was all for show. Make the people happy and they could get funding for whatever they wanted to do to the mutants.

I walked over to the wall and read one of the many posters.

_The institute of T.G.G.  
__The Greater good of mankind_

And there was a picture of about twenty whitecoats hugging the globe.

I clenched my fists at my sides. The good of mankind my feathers! All they ever caused was pain and suffering to whoever walked through these doors.

I looked back at the people who were still marvelling at the rainbow display that was being played out in front of them and realised that they probably weren't going anywhere any time soon.

"Stupid biased people," I muttered under my breath as I walked down a hall, knowing that no-one would notice I'd gone missing.

I didn't know how I was going to find Fang, but all the doors seemed to have some sort of name on them, so I decided to keep a look out for his name.

* * *

Eventually, I found something interesting. I stopped in front of a white door that looked like all the others, but this one didn't have a code. Every other door in the school had some sort of number and letter code on it, but this one had English on it that was easy to read.

My eyes widened as I read what it said and I slowly slid the unlocked door open. The room was huge and there was nothing in there except for a small black dog crate that was placed in the centre of the room. I took a few steps inside and hurried across the floor, hearing only the sound of my boots hitting the floor as I walked quickly. I dropped to my knees in front of the crate and peered inside to find a small sleeping form. His chest rose and fell so slowly that I was afraid that he'd stop breathing any minute.

"Total!?" I cried, praying that he's wake up.

He twitched in his sleep and rolled onto his other side. I saw then that his fur had gone grey and was lost in some places, making him lool like he had mange.

"Total!" I said louder, trying to wake him up.

His eyes slowly opened and he blinked a couple of times and then stared at me.

"It's me, Nudge! Come on, I'll get you out of here."

I reached into my pack and looked through it for something that Iggy had given me before I left. There was a few sandwiches, my clock thing that I found, lots of different food items, and a pair of wire cutters.

I grabbed the wire cutters and began cutting the thin bars of the crate, one by one. As I did this, Total slowly rose to his feet but quickly sat down again, keeping his eyes on me the whole time. He didn't say anything, just stared at me like I was some crazy, deluded white coat.

Eventually, I made a Total sized hole in the bars and I shuffled back a bit, waiting for Total to climb through. But Total just continued to stare at me.

I sighed, "Total? What's wrong with you? Talk!"

He blinked and then shook his head and lay down again as a tear slid down his furry cheek.

"Total?" I whispered. And he raised his head to look at me again.

"Can you speak?" I dared to ask

His eyes looked so sadly at me, before he shook his head no and dropped his head back down on the floor.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to stop the tears from coming and I took a deep breath. After a few moments, I reached my hand out sadly and scratched him behind the ear, the way that he liked it. I watched as his tail started to slowly wag back and forth, hitting the ground on every second stroke.

"Don't worry, Total. It doesn't matter, you're still part of the Flock and I need you. Come on, please....." I trailed off as I stared into his dark eyes.

He looked at me as if my idea was insane, but eventually stood and crawled through the bars, then proceeded to lick my face. I giggled then wrapped my arms around his skinny body, feeling his rough fur in my hands.

I let go and stood heading for the door that read: '_Total the talking dog,_' and we walked out together.

* * *

"Total, do you know where Fang is?" I asked the black Scottie after a few minutes of walking through the seemingly endless white halls.

He nodded and trotted a bit faster down another hallway on the left.

We made a left, a right, two more lefts and a right before stopping at a door that Total scratched with one of his paws, signalling that Fang was in there.

I looked up at the writing on the door and confirmed that this was Fang's name.

I knew that without Total I would have never been able to find Fang with the millions of doors in this place.

I bent down and patted him on the head before opening the door and heading inside.

**(A/N: I was going to leave it there, but because of my lack of updating, here's a continued version :D)**

Total and I walked into the closet sized room and looked around. There was nothing in here that I could see and I felt confused.

"Total, there's nothing in here. Are you sure that you got the right room? But, his name was on the door. Maybe he moved rooms or something because this room is very small."

Total scratched the floor to get my attention and used his paw to point at the corner of the room.

I sighed, "Total, there's nothing there! Let's go," I said as I headed for the door, but he ran in front of me and frowned.

"Fine then, but just to prove to you that there's nothing there......." I muttered as I walked over to the corner, but walked straight into something warm.

I knelt down and blindly reached my hand out until I touched it. It was warm and I could feel it breathing.

It shook me off and then became visible.

There, in front of me, sat a boy in a black tattered shirt and blue grubby jeans that had tons of large rips in them. All of his clothes were bloodstained and he had big scars all over his face and legs. He had his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around them. His head rested on his knees and his tired, dark eyes were fixated on the wall in front of him. His hair had grown so long that it fell across his face like a curtain, hiding his scars from the outside world.

Fang.

"Fang," I whispered, and threw my arms around him and let tears fall. It takes a lot to make any of us cry, but seeing Fang the way he was, was enough.

Suddenly, he growled and I quickly let go of him as if I had been jolted with electricity.

"Fang, it's me, Nudge. I'm back....."

He responded by continuing to glare at the wall as if it had just committed murder.

"Fang! Look at me!" I said angrily and my voice echoed off the small walls of the room.

Fang slowly turned his head and locked eyes with mine for a few seconds before turning back to the wall, and slowly rocking backwards and forwards on his bottom, whispering to himself, "They're all gone..............not coming back.............Max.............Nudge............gone...............forever..............my fault........."

He said it so quietly that I could hardly hear him.

"FANG!!! I'm here! It's really me!"

But he completely ignored me and continued to mumble incoherently to himself.

I looked over at Total sadly before slowly rising to my feet, and leaving through the door.

* * *

**Iggy: So, I'm a druggy and a drunk, Max is mute and catatonic, Total is mute, and Fang is crazy?**

**Me: Uh, kinda..........I guess**

**Iggy: Nice**

**Me: Hey! You should know not to split up!!! It's all your fault!!**

**Iggy: You're the one in charge of the storyline fix it!!!**

**Me: Or what?**

**Iggy: -pokes-**

**Me: Groans. Okay, I'll fix it. But first Nudge needs to find Gazzy and Angel. I have an idea of where she's going next, but where do you want her to go? -laughs- Everytime I think of where Gazzy and Iggy are, I laugh.**

**Iggy: My position isn't very funny, but I guess Gazzy's is alright**

**Me: Yeah, he didn't end up as bad as you did**

**Iggy: But it's still bad**

**Me: Whatever.**

**R&R!?!?!**

**Bell and Ig :D**


	8. Chapter 8: Who's the Director?

**Me: Okay -coughs- Very sick and don't feel like doing an AN, so I'm just going to announce that I made a maximum Ride video :D It is called FAX and the Flock and it is done by me: Aleria14. You can find it on youtube if you're interested**

**Iggy: -snoring-**

**Me: yeah, Iggy fell asleep. We're both sick and we feel very tired.....so here's the thankyous:  
Kara Nicole  
Rainbow Wings  
bambi726**

**I know that I didn't get many reviews, but that's only cause there was a problem on fanfiction the day that I updated.....stupid fanfiction and it's many problems that they take forever to solve!!! Okay, here's the chapter:**

* * *

Total and I slowly backed out of the room. I felt immense sadness building up inside me but I kept my face blank as we walked back the way we had come.

I didn't cry. I made sure that not one single tear left my eyes as we walked. Total looked up at me, giving me a sympathetic look, and I quirked the sides of my mouth upwards slightly.

As we turned a corner, we saw some whitecoats coming down the hall, and instantly ran back around the corner again. I then looked around at the doors, hoping that at least one was unlocked. I tried a door at random, and it opened with ease. I poked my head around the door and, upon seeing no one in the room, entered without a second thought.

I held the door open for Total, but he just stood there, his legs braced, tail between his legs and eyes filled with fear.

"Total!" I urged, keeping my voice down. "Get in! They're coming."

I could hear the sounds of their voices growing louder as they got near the end of the hallway, towards us.

"Please!" I said, trying to get the black Scottie through the door.

Eventually, after much coaxing, he did what he was told and we came through the door. I shut it just as the whitecoats rounded the corner and walked passed us.

I sighed with relief and bent down to Total's level. I scratched him behind the ear, and could feel his whole body shake as he looked around the room nervously.

"Total, it's okay. We're safe.......for the moment anyway."

He tried to whine, but all that escaped from his mouth was air. He then ran towards the door and scratched it.

I walked over and stood next to him, pressing my ear lightly to the door. I listened carefully, and heard the clinking of heels and shoes on the hard floor as people walked passed. It probably wasn't the best idea to leave with everyone out there, so instead, I locked the door and looked around the room.

There was a large brown desk at the back, with a single chair and a name plate resting on the top. Off to the side was a large bookcase filled with animal and human anatomy books – all non-fiction. But apart from those two pieces of furniture, the room was empty. It was huge and white, like the rest of them, but this was one of the only rooms with furniture in it. When Total saw me eyeing the desk, more air escaped his throat – in his attempt to whine – but I ignored him and slowly made my way over to the desk.

When I got there, my blood ran cold as I saw something familiar.

A photo.

I picked up the frame and blew off the dust, just barely able to see the photo behind the cracked glass.

It was a picture of the Flock that was taken a few months ago for me, but for the rest of the flock, it was taken years ago.

In the picture, Max and Fang were in the middle of the group. Fang had his hand draped tenderly around her waist and his mouth was quirked to the side – his was of smiling – while Max's mouth was in the form of a huge smile.

Iggy and Gazzy were to the left of them. Gaz was trying to conceal something electrical behind his back, while Iggy was smiling deviously, his gaze missing the camera by an inch.

Typical.

Angel and I were on the right of Max and Fang. Total was in Angels arms and I had my arm lightly around her shoulder.

I loved this photo. I had a copy in my pocket that I always carried with me, and I was just about to compare them, when something caught my eye.

When I saw it, I dropped the frame, making it hit the floor with such force that it smashed and glass shot across the floor.

At that moment, the door was unlocked and in stepped a young girl, about my age and height. She had curly blonde hair and big blue innocent eyes.

The name on the desk had said:  
_Angel Ride  
Head of Itex_

Angel was the Director

* * *

**Me: -cue evil music- -coughs-**

**Iggy: Turn the freaking music down!!!!!!**

**Me: -sighs- I'd better go to sleep too. Sorry about the lack of enthusiasm....being sick does that to you......**

**R&R!?!?!?!?!**

**Bell and Ig**


	9. Chapter 9: Angel!

**Me: So......I haven't updated this in sooooo long AND I left you with a cliffie**

**Iggy: You should all be sending her hate mail by now**

**Me: And I deserve it. I'm so, so, sorry. Really, I am. But I have had a lot of homework and was unable to get on my laptop and write fanfiction......**

**Iggy: And what makes things worse is that she has four chapters of this story written in her notebook!**

**Me: -sighs- Okay, here's the deal. I'll write a chapter every two days until I run out of already written chapters?**

**Iggy: If you can find the time to type it**

**Me: Yeah.......just hang in there guys. Amazingly, this story starts to get really, really, interesting. All my friends have been harassing me to write more and even I'm excited as to where it's going!**

**Iggy: And she won't tell me.....TELL ME!!!!**

**Me: No**

**Iggy: Then read it to me!**

**Me: No**

**Iggy: You know, I hate being blind**

**Me: I noticed**

**Iggy: It's not as fun as it seems**

**Me: It never seemed fun-  
Why the hell are we having this conversation?**

**Iggy: -shrugs- No idea**

**Me: Okay, here are the thankyou's  
Kelsey Goode  
Desdomna-Kali  
Rainbowstrike  
Star Of Calamity  
Rainbow Wings  
Toxic Rain42  
weirdpeopleruletheworld  
KimothykeroseneXD  
6464MiniDiceofRandomness  
Midge1012  
Madeline Cullen  
The Nudge and Ona Channel**

**You are all epical!!!**

**Iggy: -smacks forehead- That is Bell's newest word......**

**Me: This chapter is Epical!!!! But my favourite one so far is, probably......two more chapters away**

**Iggy: You need to write it**

**Me: I know, I know. Okay, a dedication is in order.**

_**This chapter is dedicated to Kara, who got me off my lazy ass and told me to update this story!!!**_

**Me: Iggy, you should be the one on my back about this stuff! Not Kara! Do your job!**

**Iggy: -sighs-**

**Me: Okay guys enjoy :D**

* * *

Total bolted from his place by the door and hid behind my leg, tail placed firmly between his legs.

I was stunned. I couldn't move from my place next to the desk. I just stared at the girl that I had considered my little sister and my best friend. Her hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail and it curled as it fell down her back. She was wearing a white buttoned up coat, with black boots that went half way up her calf. Her arms were folded and she was giving me the scariest death glare that I'd ever seen. I didn't ever expect to see a glare scarier and more threatening than Max's, but was instantly proven wrong as soon as I met Angel's icy gaze. If looks could kill, I'd probably be dead twice over.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked in a smooth yet demanding voice.

I opened my mouth, but, for once, I couldn't find the right words.

_Gazzy told me that Angel had been taken by the School shortly after we split up. _Iggy's words ran through my mind again. _None of us know what happened to her, or even if she's alive......._

But, there she was, standing in front of me as clear as day.

"Well?!" She asked coldly.

"Angel," I whispered. "It's me, Nudge."

Her expression slowly changed from icy to stunned and her mouth fell open making the shape of an 'O.'

"Ange, I-I don't understand......." I started softly, looking down at Total to avoid her gaze. "What happened?"

"Nudge......I.......I.....N-Nudge....." She muttered, her voice strained as her face scrunched up and she fell to her knees, holding her head firmly in her hands.

"Angel!" I shouted in alarm, rushing over to her and putting my hand around her shoulders. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She started to moan and I rubbed her back, feeling her wings under coat.

After a minute, she slowly stood up and looked blankly at me.

"I-I'm sorry. Are you lost? Can I help you find your way back to the tour group?" She asked with a smile.

Now it was my turn to gape at her. "Angel! It's me, Nudge!" I exclaimed in astonishment.

"I'm sorry, I don't think that I know you, but I can show you the way out if you wish."

I slowly nodded my head and held back more tears that threatened to break their boundaries any second as I helped her to her feet.

I knew that something wasn't right about her. A few minutes ago, she had mentioned my name and appeared to know who I was, and now she acted as if she'd never seen me before in her life. But what was really weird about her was her eyes. When she looked at me, she wore a smile but her eye's seemed deader than Iggy's. **(A/N: Iggy: Thanks Bell, thanks a lot!) **

"What have they done to you, Ange?" I whispered as the tears finally escaped down my cheeks.

She kept up the smile, but looked confused as she led me towards the door.

"Go down that hall and then make two lefts and a right to get to the exit. I hope that you've enjoyed seeing the School, goodbye." And with that, she shut the door.

I sighed and wiped my eyes on my sleeve before gently picking up Total into my arms and hugging him.

"Is this what you were trying to tell me?" I asked him faintly.

He nodded slowly.

"Did the School do this to her?"

He nodded again.

**

* * *

**

Me: And, there you go.

**Iggy: That was really short....**

**Me: -sighs- I know, and I'm sorry, but that's all I needed in this chapter. However, the next chapters are epically long**

**Iggy: Would you stop using that word?!**

**Me: NEVER!! KRILL YUM YUM YUM!!!!**

**Iggy: Krill yuck yuck yuck**

**Me: SHUN THE NON-BELIEVER!!! SHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Iggy: -glares-**

**Me: -glares back- -smacks forehead-**

**Iggy: Your glares are no match for my awesome Ninja powers!**

**Me: Ninja powers of what? Blindness?**

**Iggy: -glares-**

**Me: -glares- Okay, how stupid can I get?! -whacks with herring-**

**Iggy: Oww....**

**Me: HA! Your glares are no match for the awesome power of my herrings!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Iggy: -smacks forehead-**

**R&R!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?**

**Bell and Ig**


	10. Chapter 10: What makes you who you are?

**Me: Wow, I haven't updated this in aaaagggggeeeesssss**

**Iggy: Whish is why you're doing it now, thank goodness!**

**Me: yeah, I know. I'm sorry guys but things have been a bit hectic at the moment. If you want to know why I haven't updated in a while, then check out 'Iggy Ramblings :D,' the chapter called: Blogging and Pocky. That sould explain the reason for my absence**

**Iggy: Or, your readers can continue to hate you for not updating and find where you live, hunt you down and or kill you.**

**Me: Thanks for the support!**

**Iggy: No problem ;)**

**Me: -sighs- Okay, so anyway, in this chapter, I have a feeling that after you read the ending, you're gonna kill me**

**Iggy: You have a feeling? I think that they most likely _will _kill you.....**

**Me: Okay, shut up before I cancel the whole sleepover idea with Fang**

**Iggy:...................................................**

**Me: Good, now where was I......oh, right, the killing thing. Okay, read the A/N at the bottom for my explanation so that I don't get murdered my MR fans**

**Iggy: Good, can we start the story now**

**Me: okay :)**

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Total and I took Angels directions and found the exit easily. I hung my white visitors coat on the hook near the door, scooped Total up in my arms, and took to the air.

So, that only left Gazzy.

He was my last hope.

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I walked calmly into my room before slamming the door shut behind me and sitting on my bed, silent tears leaking down my cheeks.

"_What happened to maximum Ride?"_

The sad thing was, I knew the answer to that question. She was gone. She was taken piece by piece after the Flock left. Maximum Ride now ceased to exist.

"_Everybody 'exists,'"_ the voice chimed in. "_You are who you are, Maximum. You will _always _be Maximum Ride." The real you is still there, deep down inside yourself. Now all you have to do is find it."_

"But how?" I asked quietly aloud, speaking for the fifth time that day. That must be a record for me in the past six years. Wow, I was becoming talkative........

"_But why?" _The voice asked me.

"Excuse me?" I asked bitterly feeling the old me seeping into my subconscious again.

"_Why are you being so talkative? What gave you the sudden urge to speak up?"_

"Nudge?" I whispered.

Silence.

No surprise there.

"Is that it v-voice?" I shouted loudly, stumbling over the words because of my lack of speech over time.

"_You must figure it out for yourself, Maximum. You are the Great Maximum Ride, and you will always be maximum Ride. But........."_

I waited rather impatiently for it to continue.

"_......what makes you who you are?"_ The voice echoed through my head for a minute, causing me to shut my eyes tightly. When it stopped, there was quiet once again.

I thought about this for a while. Trying to make sense of what the voice was trying to tell me.

In the end, there was only one question that continued to circulate through my head and all through my body....

_What makes you who you are?_

This one had me confused. What made me Maximum Ride?

Suddenly, a burst of pain erupted in my skull, and I held my head in my hands, closing my eyes tight.

It was like a movie playing out in my mind, something that I hadn't experienced for six years.

_In front of me, stood Nudge. We were outside Mom's house together._

_"N-nudge," I stuttered._

More pain filled my aching head and another scene played out in front of me.

_Seven year old Angel, my baby, and her nine year old brother were standing together. Both their eyes were red and puffy and their faces, tearstained._

_"We're leaving now Max. Goodbye," Gazzy said quietly before taking to the sky, Total close in tow._

Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to go after them, but I couldn't move.

_"You can't change history....." _The voice said.

I moaned as more pain came and Iggy appeared in front of me. Except, this time, I was watching him from above, as if I was looking through a camera, or on TV.

_He was walking along a busy street, looking confused and not sure where to go. He was muttering to himself the whole way._

Then, the biggest surge of pain rattled my head and then I saw a pair of sad, dark eyes looking into mine.

_Fang._

_"Max, we just can't do this anymore!" He said quietly, but angrily all the same. "I need to leave too. Being here just reminds me of how broken we are.........We don't belong together anymore, and you know it. We all know it, even Nudge did....." he trailed off. "Everything is so messed up! This isn't how things are meant to be, but we have no choice. This is the end. Goodbye, Max."_

"NO!!!" I screamed as he took off into the sky.

A flash of light abruptly brought me back to reality. I opened my eyes and felt fresh tears soaking my red face. I then dropped my head into my hands and sobbed my heart out.

I understood what the voice meant now, and I wished that I'd realised it sooner.

"My Family!" I shouted at the voice in between my sobs.

_"My family is what makes me who I am!"_

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I landed in the cave that I'd stopped in the night before and decided to spend another night there.

I gently put Total on the ground and he collapsed in a heap on the rocky floor of the cave. I bent down and stroked him softly, feeling his chest rise and fall slowly.

Slower than usual.

"Total, are you okay?" I whispered, placing my hand on his stomach and stroking his fur gently.

He let out a low whine that sounded like air running along his broken vocal chords, before looking at me sadly.

"D-did they do something to you?" I asked feeling worried. Whatever was going on, I knew that it wasn't good.

He nodded his head slowly.

Crap. Back at the school, they used to inject us with all kinds of things that made us feel sick and extremely unhealthy.

And sometimes, those things even killed experiments like us...........

I felt his chest start to slow down and his hearts rate drop.

"NO!" I shouted as I lifted him into my arms and hugged him softly. "Total, you'll be okay. Don't give up so easily! We _always _make it through these things together, and we still can! I'm not giving up on the Flock, or on you, and you can't give up on us! We're a family, Total! Remember what it was like six years ago when we were together! Stay with me, please don't leave me........" I told him in between my sobs. I saw teardrops appear on his dark fur and I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. "I need you, Total. I can't do this by myself."

His eyes met mine and he nodded slowly, as if he was saying that he'd still put up a fight.

I slowly stood up and made my way over to the wall. I sat down and cradled him in my arms until the two of us fell asleep.

The next morning, I knew that Total had put up a strong fight, but he obviously wasn't strong enough to win.......

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**Me: Anyone getting their pitchforks ready yet?**

**Iggy: -sighs- You'd better explain before they make it out the door....**

**Me: Well, I have written most of this story now, and I think that Total would just get in the way of where it's going. And Nudge needs to be sad for the next chapter. So, I'm sorry if you're angry because I killed Total, but I DID cry when I killed him off........**

**Iggy: Which is weird. who cry's at their own story?**

**Me: -glares- But, now that Max has sorted out her issues, things start to get better from here on out. I don't think that there will be much more dpressing things after this.....**

**Iggy: There better not be. Even I'M getting sick of your depressed mood!**

**Me: -whacks- okay. For those of you that are still reading this story. Thankyou for sticking with me and Ig for so long ;) You're awesome.**

**R&R!?!?!?!?**

**Bell and Ig**


	11. Chapter 11: Chayton

**Me: Well, I thought that since I haven't updated in forever, that I'd make it up to you by updating quicker :) And, Kara and Rain have been harrassing me to update, so....**

**Iggy: Let me guess, another dedication?**

**Me: Yeah...**

**This chapter is dedicated to Kara and Rain for being aweosme and getting me off my butt!**

**Iggy: Nice**

**Me: Also, a warning, there is a swear word in this chapter....**

**Iggy: She decided to use the f-bomb.**

**Me: -sighs- Yeah. But it just suited the moment. I hope that nobody minds ;)**

**Iggy: I was shocked at your language Bell!!!!**

**Me: -facepalm- Whatever. Anyway, here you go guys. This is my FAVOURITE chapter of this story!!! And I loved writing it :) Two surprises, enjoy!**

**+-+-+-+-+-+-+-**

After flying for a few hours, I reached the small town where Gazzy supposedly lived. Iggy said that he didn't know _exactly_ where he was, but was certain that he was in this town. After all, they were the two flock members that kept in touch the longest.

I sighed. To put it simply, I was exhausted. I avoided in a dark alley to avoid being seen, and sat against the cold wall. I rubbed my wings against the rough bricks and stretched them slightly. I drew my legs up to my chest and cried my eyes out. Total was......gone, I was alone, I had no idea where Gazzy was, and, at this rate, I didn't think that I could ever get home and stop this disaster from happening.

"Hey, you!" Someone shouted and kicked me hard in the shin. I jumped and instantly pressed my wings tight against my back as I lifted my tired head to see three dark haired boys that looked to be around thirteen. All had at least one weapon, and they were all pointed at, you guessed it, _me._

"What do you want?" I asked with a snarl, unfazed by their weapons. Sure, they had guns, and knives etc, but living in the school for most of my life had taught me not to let _anyone _push me around, no matter how strong they were.

The boys seemed a bit taken aback by my answer and I sneaked in a quick smirk while they recovered.

"Give us your purse with your money!" The boy with the knife said, jabbing the air with his weapon of choice, trying to seem more threatening. _Trying._

I sighed, in a situation like this, stick with the truth.

"I don't have a purse," I answered with a shrug.

"What about the clock in that backpack!" Another boy exclaimed, pointing at my half opened pack next to me.

I quickly grabbed it and hugged it tightly to my chest. "You can't have it," I answered decisively, giving them the biggest glare I could muster.

The boys just rolled their eyes and started toward me. I jumped to my feet and swung my pack over my shoulder before getting into a fighting stance. Just as we were about to go into combat, we were _rudely _interrupted.

"What's going on here!?" Someone snarled angrily from behind the three boys.

They instantly turned and hid me from view of the other person. They physically relaxed when they saw him and breathed sighs of relief.

"Oh, Chayton, we thought you were a cop or something, man!" One of the boys said sheepishly as he put a hand in his pocket.

"Well, clearly I'm not you fucking moron! What's going on!?" The boy they called 'Chayton' asked impatiently.

"We found this girl who has a gold clock thing," he said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at me. "I figure that we can get at least a few bucks off it."

"Awesome! Let's see it then," he replied excitedly and the three boys parted to reveal a very tall blonde haired boy. He was much taller than the other three that attacked me and had amazing blue eyes. He somehow seemed different to the other boys though......

He withdrew a knife and advanced toward me, shoving roughly past the other group of boys. However, he stopped abruptly when his face was inches from my own. His mouth opened and closed like a fish, obviously trying to say _something, _but failed. He did, however, manage to get one word out of his mouth.

"Nudge?" He whispered.

My eyes widened in shock as I _finally _realised who it was.

"Gazzy?" I whispered and he nodded.

We stood in silence, staring at each other, absorbing the moment like a sponge until the knife fell from his grasp, breaking the spell.

"Chayton, what the hell is wrong with you?! Just take the damn clock!" One of Gazzy's followers answered impatiently.

"No," he answered quietly, losing all of the leadership he had in his voice before he saw me.

He then turned around and faced his friends. "Ikura goda," he shouted, before throwing a small object onto the ground.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by thick, black smoke and I leaned against the wall.

When it cleared and I could see again, Gazzy and his gang were gone.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

_I sighed. Stupid tapping, maybe if I ignore it, it will go away._ I thought irritably.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

"Go away!" I shouted and the tapping stoped. Well, for two minutes anyway....

_Tap. Tap. Ta-_

"Okay!" I yelled. "I'm coming, Jeez!"

I opened my eyes and swung my feet over the side of the bed, sitting for a minute, getting my bearing again, before standing up and feeling around for my cane.

I grasped it in my hand and lightly swung it from side to side as I walked out of my room, passed the couch (which was thirty two paces from my room) and to the front door.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I asked, quickly getting to the point in the hopes that they'd go away and I could go back to sleep.....

The person drew in a breath before answering. "Can I come in please?" She asked and I frowned.

"Uh, I guess," I replied as I moved aside and heard her light footsteps hurry into the room and, get this, she plonked herself down on the couch!

I then heard the sound of her boots hitting my coffee table. I felt suddenly annoyed that she was getting all comfortable on _my _couch.

Dear God, I hope that I didn't let some random murderer into my house. Who honestly has the decency to kill a _blind _person anyway?

I sighed. _No has visited me in six years and now everyone seems to want to bother me! First it was Nudge, who supposedly moved forward in time and now some random blind person murdering chick has decided to grace me with her presence!_

"What do you want?" I asked impatiently as I crossed my arms. Sure, I was blind and really out of practise, but I knew that I could kick that chicks butt any day of the week, and probably stare her down too.

"Who said I wanted anything?" She asked in an in-your-face type way.

My eyes widened in shock at her chosen response, but I continued the conversation. "Then why are you here? Selling cookies?" I replied bitterly but quietly, my hands dropping to my sides and my cane clattering to the floor loudly.

The girl stood and slowly made her way over to me, stopping inches from my face.

"Because six years ago I made the biggest mistake of my life, and it only took an eleven year old girl to make me realise how stupid I was Iggy......" She whispered as she lightly patted my arm and tapping my hand twice.

Before I knew it, I was in a tight embrace with her. The type of hug where you _never _want to let go.

"Max?" I whispered.

I felt her nod.

**+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+**

**Me: And, there you go :)**

**Iggy: I liked it, but what's with Gazzy's language?!**

**Me: -shrugs- He's a big and bold leader now! He needs to somehow remain control and- WAIT! I can't say anything on here!! -sighs- One day, I plan on having a contest and giving out quote leaks ;)**

**Iggy: That would make Rain scream again....**

**Me: Last night I gave her a quote leak and she screamed and went crazy....**

**Iggy: Like you did when she gave you the quote leaks from her story**

**Me: Yeah. Good times.....**

**R&R!?!?!?!?**

**Bell and Ig**


	12. Chapter 12: What is this place?

**Me: Hello everyone! -yawns-**

**Iggy: She isn't very enthusiastic tonight...**

**Me: Mainly because of my tiredness. Have you ever had a day...or even _a week_ where nothing goes right and everything goes wrong? Well, that's been my week :(**

**Iggy: And I just mainly sat back and laughed at her misery**

**Me: -glares-**

**Iggy: I can practically _feel _that glare...**

**Me: humph. Anyway, I don't know if there's any mistakes in here, but if there is, I am very sorry. But, the reality is, I typed this up around 11:00pm and my brain seems to break down at around that time...so I end up watching video's on youtube**

**Iggy: Something she can watch and her mind only has the capacity to take in moving pictures when it's this late...**

**Me: -whacks- But, instead of watching said videos, I decided to update this story and try to finish it off asap for my readers ;)  
Okay guys, enjoy the chapter :D**

NUDGE POV

I made my way out of the alley and onto the street. I heard the sound of cars rushing past and could see people hurrying around, trying to get to work, while others strolled along like they hadn't a care in the world. Gazzy sure picked an....interesting place to live.

I had another look around before deciding that that the best way to find Gazzy was to ask someone. Which meant breaking one of Max's codes and speaking to a stranger that well and truly could be a whitecoat; but I wasn't seeing any other options.

I looked for the least suspicious looking person, and settled for a kind-looking woman who was happily pushing a stroller along. I ended up cautiously approaching her.

"Umm....hi. I was wondering if you could help me," I said quietly.

The woman looked startled for a moment, as if it was unusual for someone to attempt to talk to her.

"What do you want," she asked uncertainly.

"Do you know anything about the local street gang?" I blurted out quickly. "I don't know much about them, but I know that their leaders name is Chayton and I was wondering if you knew where they hang out...."

All of the color seemed to drain from her olive toned face as soon as I'd finished.

"Well, if I were you I wouldn't _want _to find that gang; they're trouble, and they've always been. Especially their leader! The amount of things that have been blown up since he arrived in this town..."

Despite it all, I smiled. It didn't surprise me that Gaz was _still _bowing stuff up.

"Apparently," she went on. "The police have been trying to catch the group of children for years and had no luck. Everyone knows that they hang out at the dump, but people stay away and I suggest that you do the same," she said as she briskly walked away, obviously trying to avoid any more talk about them.

When she was gone, I ran back into the alleyway and took off into the sky.

+-+-+-+-+-

It only took me ten minutes before I found the dump. As it turns out, it could easily be found from the air, so I had no difficulties. It also helps if you have raptor vision, I guess...

I landed at the entrance to avoid being seen and slowly slipped through the gate into the dump in the hopes of finding the Gasman.

+-+-+-+-+-

MAX POV

"So, what do you plan on doing?" Iggy asked as we walked down the street, looking for a good take-off spot.

After with my conversation with the voice, I'd immediately packed my backpack and left for Iggy's apartment without a second thought. Of course, I told Ella where I was going first and asked her to tell mom. She was a bit bewildered, but said that she'd pass on my message.

"I'm planning on getting my Flock back together. Isn't that obvious?"

Iggy rolled his eyes. "No, I mean specifically."

"Oh, I didn't really think past coming here," I replied as I looked around. The place was an absolute dump, with its high-rise buildings and their smashed windows and heavy fumes through the air.

"Out of all the places in America you could have gone, why did you come here?" I asked curiously.

Iggy abruptly stopped walking and turned to face me, his eyes seeming to look into mine.

"I'll show you," he replied quietly as he kept walking and we turned down another street.

"Is there a park or somewhat of an oval around here?" Ig asked, lightly placing his hand on my right arm, letting me guide him along.

"Uh," I looked around and spotted a patch of grass, just outside the city. There were almost dead trees surrounding it and their very few leaves were swaying in the light breeze. "Yeah, across the road at ten o'clock," I finally answered after my inspection.

He nodded, and together we walked across the road and headed for the park.

+-+-+-+-+-

To put it simply, the place was really depressing.

The grass had long ago died and was dead and brown. The trees had very few leaves and the leaves that they did have, fell to the ground slowly because of the light wind. Unlike the city, this place was dead quiet. The only sound that could be heard were the wind and the slight rustling of leaves as they left their branches and flew through the park.

I shuddered. Not from the cold, but because there was something about this place that felt eerie to me.....familiar somehow.

I felt Iggy's light fingers drop from my arm as he took a few steps forward before slowly lowering himself onto his knees. He ran his fingers over the dead grass and closed his eyes as more wind lightly blew past us. I could tell that he was listening the very few sounds around him; things that I probably couldn't hear. After a few moments, he spoke.

"Do you remember this place?" He murmured sadly.

I nodded, unable to find the right words. I then remembered who I was talking to and sat myself down next to him.

"Yeah, but I don't know where....." I answered thoughtfully, looking around at my surroundings again.

"I can't believe you don't remember," he whispered. "The grass used to be green, you know? I think that all of the pollution killed it."

I was beginning to get sick of this. "Ig, where are we?"

He just shrugged before continuing. "Everything seemed better before Itex took over. Sure, we were a random bunch if mutants on the run, but we were together. Now I'm just haunted by dreams from the past, dreams of things that no longer exist. Angels chiming laughter, the sound of a bomb exploding, Nudge's rambling, Gazzy cheering after our newest invention worked, you telling us off after a bomb worked and even the silence that came whenever I was with Fang....." he sighed. "But things change. Just one small thing in history changes and everything else in the universe goes haywire. It could be as simple as something going missing in the time stream, or that 'something' could even be a person......"

_Flashback_

"_Nudge!" I screamed as she disappeared through the portal. I broke out of the tight grip of the robot and watched at it fell to the ground with a large crash. I flew over to where Nudge had only been seconds before and could only feel thin air._

"_Nudge!" I called again, but, still, I got no answer._

_End Flashback_

"Everything just fell apart after she was gone," Iggy continued. "We couldn't keep together. We all had different opinions on what to do next and we couldn't decide on what to actually do. In the end, we just thought it best to split up...."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. I remember," I whispered as tears slid down my cheeks. "We broke up here."

"Yeah," Iggy choked out quietly.

"Why did you stay here?" I asked for the second time that day.

"Why else Max?" He answered bitterly. "I had nowhere else to go; I can't see where I'm going. It.....it was just easier this way, I guess." He finished as he stared off into nothingness.

"Don't worry, Ig." I said as I felt more determination seeping into my veins. "We're getting the Flock back!"

**Me: Now I know that there's some form of mistakes in there.....but I honestly don't have the attention span to check. Sorry guys**

**Iggy: Since when do you have the attention span to do anything anyway!?!?**

**Me: -whacks with herring-**

**Iggy: Bed?**

**Me: Sounds good right about now...**

**R&R!!??!?!?**

**Bell and Ig ;)**


	13. Chapter 13: The dump

**Me: Wow, this is a short chapter...**

**Iggy: That's because you write everything down in a book and when you go to type it up it's shorter than you actually think**

**Me: -sighs- Well, the only place that I really get time to write these days is at school. So, I can't lug around my laptop as that would be weird and really noticeable**

**Iggy: Yeah. Like, you go to secretly write a story in science while the teacher is going on about some random crap and then you bring out your laptop and start hitting the keys loudly**

**Me: Great idea. I'm positive that the teacher won't get angry with me....and why are we having this conversation anyway?**

**Iggy: To fill in the Author note**

**Me: -facepalm- But I already had something to fill in the A/N**

**Iggy: You did? Wow, that's a first....usually we talk about random crap...**

**Me: -whacks- It isn't always random crap....Ugh, there you go - distracting me AGAIN!!**

**Iggy: I'm hungry**

**Me: Yeah...me too- IGGY!!!!!!**

**Iggy: -snickers- Bell, you have a really short attention span**

**Me: NO I DON'T!!!!**

**Iggy: Bell, LOOK OVER THERE!!**

**Me: Where?**

**Iggy: -facepalm-**

**Me: Oh, you think you're so funny...well, to take revenge for that stunt, I'm writing your name as Oggy for the rest of this convo**

**Oggy: -glares-**

**Me: Okay. Sorry for the delay of important information, but this is what I was trying to say:  
It's the end of the year. And, at this time, teachers think that it's very funny to all give you work at the same time. So, I now have four projects and a math exam, all due this week. That's the reason for the slow updates.**

**Okay on with the chapter....sorry about the long A/N...let's just blame Oggy -winks-**

There were cars stacked in huge towers all around me and random pieces of garbage were everywhere throughout the dump in unorganised chaos. In a way, it was like a mini-city made up of old furniture, cars, and trash. It smelled so bad, but this was a pretty cool hangout spot with lots of places to hide. I was impressed.

I suddenly whirled around to face a column of cars where I'd heard a small noise only seconds before. My eyes darted around and I pricked my ears; listening for the smallest amount of movement from anything.

When I heard nothing once more, I turned to continue walking, but before I had time to react, someone held my right arm behind my back and yanked it up – hard.

I winced slightly before looking over my shoulder at my captor. He had light blue eyes and dirty blonde hair – almost brown – along with a wicked smirk on his face as he looked at me.

"So, what's a pretty young lady like you doing snooping around _our_ hideout?" He sneered.

I roughly pushed my leg our behind me, knocking him onto his back. I turned to face him with my fists in the air – not wanting to hurt him unless he was a threat.

"What's a stupid kid like you picking on a girl that could probably– no, who _can _kick your ass so bad that you wouldn't remember it the next day?!" I snarled, remembering what Max had taught me.

"Wow, _feisty_. I like that in a girl," he replied wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh _please!_" I said in disgust while rolling my eyes. "Just tell me where I can find Chayton."

The boy lifted himself up on his elbows. "And why in the fucking world would I do that?"

I simply held my fists and glared at him in the way that used to scare adults.

He shrugged and stood up so we were face to face.

"Why do you want to see him?" He asked in all seriousness this time.

"Because I need his help," I answered cautiously, keeping my fists up.

"Well, you might as well fuck off then 'cause we never 'help' anyone. Why don't you go find a cop or something?" he said as he began to walk away.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him to face me. "Can you at least let me see him? It's really important," I pleaded, using the bambi eyes.

He looked at me for a minute before shaking his head and sighing. "Why the hell would he want to see _you?"_

I took a deep breath. "Because he's my brother."

The boy looked at me in shock before cackling like a maniac. "He doesn't have a sister! We're all orphans you dipshit! Next time, check our background before pulling out such a crappy back story!"

I rolled my eyes as I slid my bag off my back. Could he be any stupider?

I unzipped the pack and took out my photo's and skimmed through them until I found the one of Gazzy, Angel and I together. I then shoved it in front of his face and he instantly stopped laughing.

"But.......how is that possible?" He asked astonished.

I snatched it back from him and put it safely back in my bag.

"Does it matter?" I asked impatiently. "Just take me to see him!"

He sighed. "You're not going to leave until I let you see him, are you?"

"I'm glad you're catching on."

"Fine," he said between clenched teeth. "This way."

He took a left passed another few columns of garbage and I followed him.

We walked for a while around the dump, every now and again we'd turn round a corner. The amount of passageways really astounded me. There was more to the dump than meets the eye; no wonder the police had trouble catching them.

Eventually, we came to a stop in front of a wall of garbage; also known as a _dead end_.

"Okay, why did you bring me here? Do you even know where Chayton is, or were you just leading me on!? I can't believe anyone would-"

He put his hand across my mouth and I went quiet.

"Before I let you in, you need to swear that you won't tell anyone about us. If you do, we can easily find you. Trust me, Chayton has his ways," he said with an evil smile, probably intending to scare me; not that it worked.

"I swear that I won't tell anyone about any of this."

He nodded and then we walked toward the wall.

**Oggy: And then we walked towards the wall?**

**Me: -nods- What's wrong with that?**

**Iggy: -shrugs-**

**Me: -facepalm-**

**R&R!?!??!?!?!? Rest and relaxation now seems to hvae changed to read and review. What is with that?**

**Oggy: And what is with you asking random questions?**

**Me: 'Cause I feel like it....OGGY!!!!**

**Oggy: TOP CALLING ME THAT!!!!**

**Review?**

**-Bell and Ig :D**


	14. Chapter 14: Wanting the past

**Me: Sorry, too tired to type....sorry for taking so long to update**

**Iggy: She hasn't been able to sleep lately and she's really cranky**

**Me: I hope that you enjoy the chapter.**

Iggy and I stood up off the ground. I wiped tears from my bloodshot eyes and decided it was time to head to the school.

Wow. I never thought that I'd think of doing that...

"Come on, Ig. Let's get the heck out of here," I said as I took a few steps back, getting ready for my running take off.

"Wait!" Iggy said, touching my arm.

"What?" I asked impatiently, wanting so bad to take to the air.

"I, uh, well....." Iggy stuttered. He looked really nervous and uncertain as he looked down and fiddled with his torn jeans.

"What is it?" I asked more calmly.

"I don't think that I _can _fly," he said thoughtfully.

I just gaped at him.

"I mean, I _might _be able to fly but it's been so long that...."

"Iggy, I don't think that it's _possible _to forget how to fly. Run, jump, spread your wings and flap," I said reassuringly. "You can do it."

He took in a deep breath before nodding.

I took off at a running speed, hearing Iggy's footsteps behind me the whole time, and at the last second, I leaped into the air. I unfurled my wings and flapped rhythmically – getting more and more lift as I did so. I felt the rush of adrenalin and the blood pumping through my veins as I reached ten feet, then twenty, then fifty feet.

When I was high enough that I thought that no one could see me, I looked over my shoulder and hoped that Iggy had followed me.

Sure enough, a figure emerged clumsily out of the clouds. Sure he was a bit shaky and off balance, but he could fly well enough to get to the school.

I put my hand on his arm to steady him and he smiled.

"Hmm, I guess that I forgot about this feeling," he said thoughtfully.

Even though he couldn't see it, I smiled back.

"C'mon, let's go get Fang." And with that, we flew off in the direction of the school.

+-+-+-+-+-

It felt good to fly again – scratch that. It felt good to fly with one of my flock again. Even though I was down four members, it felt....right to have company again. It felt right to be able to share the sky with one of my family again.

I closed my eyes and just let my wings carry me along while the wind blew tendrils of hair off my face.

I felt so free and relaxed, while I made large arches in the sky.

I then heard someone chuckle next to me and I opened my eyes – glare at the ready. What a waste of a facial expression....

"What?" I asked Iggy with a frown.

"I have absolutely no idea what you were doing, but, by the sound of it....." he couldn't finish his sentence because he erupted into hysterical laughter while clutching his stomach tightly.

"What!?" I asked a second time, feeling more and impatient.

"You....were.....making......grunting....noises!" he grounded out through his laughter. He was now laughing so hard now that he forgot to flap for a few seconds and dropped a few feet before rising to meet me again.

I rolled my eyes and lifted myself above him and used the palm of my hand to whack him upside the head.

"Ow," he exclaimed as he rubbed his head.

That shut him up...

"Hmm," he said deep in thought while seeming to stare right at me.

I sighed, "What is it _now_!?"

"I'm just wondering how much you were thinking of Fang while you were making those grunting noises..." This caused more hysterical laughter to erupt from Iggy.

I lifted a hand to whack him again when I abruptly froze.

You know how in those movies where the main character meets an old friend and they see them the way that they used to so long ago? Well, that's what happened to me. For a second, I was able to see 14 year old Iggy again after five long years. Seeing him laugh like this reminded me of how he used to be before all of this happened – the first time that I'd met him he was all serious and stoic. But, suddenly he was back, and I felt an unbelievable rush of happiness flood through me. Not that I would ever tell _him _that...

_I just hope that Fang can be changed this easily..._

"Max? Max? Anyone there?"

I snapped out of my trance-like state and turned back to the 19 year old Iggy.

"Are you alright?" He asked seriously.

"Yeah. I was just thinking."

"About?" He asked with his eyebrows raised.

I sighed. "How things were."

Iggy nodded and stared off ahead of him. "We all want to go back, Max. But, unfortunately, none of us are equipped with time travel.

_Yeah, none of us from __this time_

_No one but Nudge._

**Me: R&R!?!??!!!?!?!?!?**

**Iggy: Uh...sorry about Bell and her crankiness. This is just a faze that she goes through when she can't sleep....**

**Bell and Ig**


	15. Chapter 15: Gazzy FINALLY!

**Me: Sorry I haven't updated, but I came back from Tasmania (A little island that's considered part of Australia. Consult a map if interested) and now it's Christmas so I haven't had time...**

**Iggy: -sighs- And, for once, I'm not going to argue with her. She seriously has been busy**

**Me: Thanks for the back up :D**

**Iggy: Never agreeing again**

**Me: Fine, whatever.  
Here's the next chapter. I hope that you enjoy it :D**

I followed to boy right up to the enormous junk wall and laid an uncertain hand on it.

_Strange..._

"Hey! This way!" called the boy as he disappeared behind a large pillar.

I cautiously followed him and slipped behind it too. It was a very cramped space – big enough for one. Too bad there were two of us.

"It's nice in here, don't you think?" He asked as we stood chest to chest.

"Hurry up and do what you're going to do before I beat the crap out of you again!" I growled. I noticed that I was being really agressive and mean lately. I guess that everything has finally gotten to me...

He gulped and leaned against the side wall of the tiny space, causing an old keypad to pop out.

He then proceeded to type in the code. I watched curiously over his shoulder.

M.....

F......

I.......

N.....

G.....

A.....

My eyes widened in surprise.

_M=Max, F=Fang, I=Iggy..._

"Uh, where did you come up with that code?" I asked quietly before he had time to press 'ENTER.'

He shrugged. "Chayton came up with it; he never told us what it meant," he explained before quickly looking over his shoulder at me. "Why? Do _you_ know what it means?"

"No, of course not!" I replied menacingly. Lying was one of the first lessons in our Max training.

"Fine, whatever," he answered as he pressed the 'ENTER' button.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling noise and I jumped slightly as the wall slowly parted to reveal their hideout.

It was a huge wooden structure in the middle of the dump, hidden away by the garbage walls at least thirty meters high.

I was gobsmacked.

"Come on," the boy urged as we walked up to the metal door of the hide out. He then tapped it five times with his filthy knuckles and a flap opened to reveal a small television screen. The screen flashed and a girl appeared on it. She had light brown hair and hazel eyes and she smiled happily when she saw the boy.

"Scooter, what are you doing here?" She asked, still smiling. "Shouldn't you be on watch?"

"Well, I would have been on watch if it wasn't for this trespasser!" he replied, shoving an accusing thumb in my direction.

"Oh," she replied as her smiled quickly faded. "Why are you bringing her here?"

The boy, who I assumed was Scooter, shot a glance at me before replying. "Stigee batiae nengastota. Uh, tomoda neta sete kadrare tomoi."

My eyes widened. That was the language that the Flock used when we didn't want to be understood by anyone else.

Translation: '_She claims to be Chayton's sister and she has a photo. Uh, but I'm still not convinced as she has darker skin and looks nothing like Chayton._

The girl on the screen nodded in understanding.

"Excuse me," I said interrupting their conversation. "Le de batiae! Carmea dontallo suga neta sete hartie undagre! Tomapone bandata kraspar donte!"

Translation: _I am his sister! I have darker skin because I'm his adopted sister. Just let me in and I will prove it to you!_

Both Scooter and the girl's jaw dropped in astonishment when I'd finished.

"I'm assuming that Chayton taught you that language because we used that when we were kids," I explained becoming impatient. How hard is it to see your own brother!?

"I, umm....guess that I'd better let you in," the girl said as I heard the sound of keys being pressed and saw the door opening.

The screen flicked off to black and Scooter and I walked inside.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"Chayton invented all of the electronics in the building," explained Scooter as we walked through a large hall.

I smiled as I began to look around the hall. "That wouldn't surprise me."

The whole place was made of wood but it had lots of electronics everywhere on the walls that were obviously security cameras, televisions with random shows playing or showing other halls - probably for security reasons - and all the doors seemed to open in a futuristic way. The doors also had names written on them; probably the names of the kids that lived in the rooms.

We eventually came to a door, just like the others, except for the fact that it had the name 'Chayton' written across it in very fancy lettering.

"So, you really did know Chayton before he came here?" Scooter asked as we stood facing Gazzy's room.

"Yeah," I answered as I looked longingly at the door.

"Well, the thing is, everyone here has some form of a story to tell. Like, where we've come from, how we got here, _why _we were here etc. Most of us even tell these stories to the other members of the group, but Chayton...he's a different story. He's our leader and we trust and respect him, but we hardly know anything about his past..." Scooter trailed off and looked at the door as if it might hold the story behind Gazzy's past.

I didn't really blame Gazzy for not telling them. If you wanted a fresh start, you didn't need your horrible past trailing behind you – even if it meant forgetting your family and everyone that mattered to you in your life. Or, maybe he wanted to forget...

"Thank you," I said to Scooter before knocking quickly and pressing a button that opened the door.

+-+-+-+-+-+-**(A/N: Well, I aws going to leave it there, but I didn't think that the chapter was long enough so I continued ;))**

I silently closed the door behind me and let out a breath as I turned around to face my 'brother.'

The room was huge. There was a large bed in the left corner, a desk in the centre of the back wall, a TV in the right corner with beanbags around it, _another _desk on the right wall that was covered with wires and other various electronic devices (although there were wires all over the floor everywhere as well), three cabinets on the right wall near the desk, and the most amazing thing about the room was that the back wall was completely made out of thick glass.

Gazzy was standing against said window with his forehead pressed against it as he looked out over the dump and over some of the city.

"Gaz?" I enquired taking a few uncertain steps towards him, stepping around a few wires that were scattered along the floor.

He didn't respond.

I looked down and realised how stupid I was. This was Gazzy! My family! A member of the flock! I can still remember playing hangman with him and then arguing about how to spell the words. I remember him, Angel and I laughing as he threw his voice – making Fang and Iggy fight over nothing.

I strode across the room and stopped behind him lifting my hand and placing it on his shoulder. Dang, he had gotten tall. At thirteen he could give Fang and Iggy a run for their money.

"Gaz, it's me, Nudge. Can you please turn around and we can talk like we used to! It's going to be alright, we can fix everything and-"

He spun around to face me. "Well, at least you haven't changed, motormouth," he said with a smirk.

"And you sound like you've been hanging around Iggy too much," I retorted with a smile.

At the mention of his best friends name, he smiled slightly but it didn't last long. I looked up at him and studied his features. His hair had grown out and was styled in a spiky way with dark blue tips, he seemed a lot older and more mature now, but the one thing that hadn't changed were his eyes. When I looked into them, I could still see the eight year old Gazzy.

"So, why is it that I've aged by six years and you still seem to be _still _eleven?"he asked as he examined my face. "A very good Botox? Any good recommendations for one?" He joked.

I playfully whacked his arm. "Gazzy! This is serious!"

"Okay, okay. Just explain what's going on and tell me why my past seems to be coming me back to haunt me!" By then end of the sentence his tone suggested that he was now somewhat annoyed by this.

"Gazzy, what's wrong? Don't you want to see me? Because, if you don't I can always leave and-"

"No!" he interrupted. "It's just...everyone left."

I suddenly saw the rage and sadness appear in his eyes instead of the happiness look he had earlier.

"After you left we...fell apart. It seemed impossible to stay together anymore. Angel, Total and I...we were on our own! I was eight! I was the oldest so I needed to take charge, but I didn't know what to do or where to go! I was so confused and lost..."

Although I seemed to be crying a lot this week, I felt tears in my eyes _again_ at Gazzy's tale. They broke their barriers and rolled down my cheeks as I stared at him fighting back his own tears.

"Around a week after we left the Flock, we were ambushed by new and improved Flyboys. They managed to take Angel and Total away, but they left me. I went to rescue them and..." he cut himself off and rubbed his wet eyes.

I didn't need him to finish that sentence. I already knew what he was going to say.

"Angel was working for the school," I breathed. "As the Director."

"How did you know?" he asked in surprise.

"You aren't the first Flock member that I've found, Gaz, in fact, you're the last."

He nodded slowly. "So, you met the others?" he said quietly.

"Yeah," Ig was the first and he told me where to find you guys, then I found Max, then Total, followed by Fang, Angel, then you. Total was the only one that agreed to help me but..." An image of Total flashed across my mind for a moment. "...they did something to him. He didn't survive the night," I finished, causing more tears to come.

"Not Total..." Gazzy said sadly. "Please tell me you're lying."

I shook my head and then dropped my head into my hands and began to sob. I felt strong arms wrap around me before I started to feel a bit dizzy. All of this was too much and I needed to rest, so I let myself slip away into darkness.

**Me: And, there you go. From here on in, the next chapters are about Max and Iggy finding Fangles :D**

**Iggy: You've been talking to Saint on Skype too much**

**Me: ...about Max and Iggy finding _Fang _**

**Iggy: Better**

**Me: -rolls eyes- Yeah, so it focuses on them with little glimpses of Nudge and Gazzer. But, will Max and Iggy be able to convince Fang to come with them?**

**Iggy: If not, I'll just drag him out of that depressing room**

**Me: -sighs- Boys and they're agressive ways of doing things...**

**R&R!?**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**I'll update on Christmas day for anyone interested**

**Iggy: You're gonna update on Christmas day?!**

**Me: Yeah. -shrugs- I LOVE Christmas so that would be a nice present for the readers...not that they'd be reading fanfiction on Christmas day...**

**Iggy: -facepalm-**

**-Bell and Ig**


	16. Chapter 16: FAXNESS!

**Iggy: You're updating this _again!??!?!_**

**Me: Well, I have a very special chapter that has a surprise in it...so I thought that my readers might want to read the special chapter on Christmas day ;)**

**Iggy: Oh...the one with-**

**Me: Do you want to ruin it?**

**Iggy:...yes**

**Me: -whacks with herring- Okay, so, to get to the special chapter, I needed to get this one out of the way. And, I think that you'll like it, because it has FAX!**

**Iggy: And she just finished writing a FAX oneshot two minutes ago. I think you're on a FAX high, Bell...**

**Me: Yeah. Maybe I should update Six Years Past next. That _is _a FAX story!!!**

**Iggy: -facepalm-**

**Me: I could write an Eggy fic?**

**Iggy: -glares- I think that she's on a pairings high**

**Me: -shrugs- Anyway, here's the chapter:**

After constant flying for four hours straight, the two of us felt like we were carrying rocks on our backs. I looked over at Igs and saw a strained look on his face as he flew ungracefully next to me. After not flying for so long, I could tell that we were way out of practise.

I looked down and determined that we were about five minutes away from the School. Upon another inspection, I saw a cave and decided that it would be best to rest there and get some sleep before going to find Fang.

I looked into the distance at the big boring building longingly, but I knew that Ig and I were no help if we were _this _tired.

Uh-huh, even the genetically enhanced mutants needed to rest.

"Okay, Ig, here's the game plan. The School is about five minutes away from here but, the way I see it, we're exhausted. So, I think that we should rest in a cave and then go tomorrow."

He nodded thoughtfully before staring straight ahead as if he could actually see the building.

"Come on, the cave's at nine o'clock," I said before angling my wings and headed down toward the cave.

+-+-+-

We landed on the edge of the rocky cliff cave ledge and practically collapsed in exhaustion.

"Okay, so...we're...waaayyy...out...of...practise," Iggy said breathlessly.

"You...think?" I replied bitterly from my lying position on my stomach, trying to get more air into my lungs as I slipped my pack of my shoulders and extended my wings across the cave floor. I then pushed myself up into a kneeling position and took a bottle of water out of my backpack, scoffing half of it before giving the other half to Iggy, who mumbled a 'thanks' and then drank the rest.

I stood shakily before walking over to the edge of the cave, lightly placing my hand on the wall to steady myself. I then proceeded to look out over the cave edge at the sunset...

_Flashback..._

"_It's beautiful," I said from my place next to Fang in our chosen tree._

"_Hmm," he replied in a, well, Fang-like way._

"_It just makes me forget about everything," I whispered, my fingers tightening around the branch I was holding._

_Fang wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I nuzzled my head into his neck._

"_Everything?" he enquired._

"_I mean, whenever there's a moment like this, I forget that we're on the run from the school and God knows what else, I don't need to worry about Gazzy and Iggy blowing up mom's house, or Nudge bugging me to go shopping, or Angel mind controlling our neighbours to buy her a toy store or something. Right now it's just..." I trailed off as I closed my eyes for a second, embracing the moment happily._

"_It's just you and me," He whispered as he drew me closer to him._

_I smiled and nodded my head into his hard chest._

_Sometimes it made things easier when your boyfriend could practically read your mind._

"_You know, this is the best sunset that I've ever seen," Fang breathed as he traced circles on my back, lightly going over my wings as he did so._

"_Yeah, definitely the best," I replied, still smiling._

_After that, there was a comfortable silence between us while my best friend and I watched the sun slowly go down in peace. After ten minutes, the sky had become darker than it was when we had first come up in the tree, and Fang decided to break the silence._

"_I love you," he whispered, making my heart beat faster than it usually did. My brain then fogged up as if nothing existed anymore and for that moment I didn't know what to do. But, as fast as it had come, the fog suddenly cleared and I knew what to say to him._

_I turned my head around until our eyes met._

"_I love you too..."_

_End Flashback..._

I don't know if it was due to the fact that I was really tired after the flight or if it was just thinking about Fang again, but I dropped to my knees and, after six long years, let the tears come. I wasn't really sure why I was crying, but I thought that it was for Fang.

Normally I wouldn't break down this easily, but with everything going on, I just couldn't take it.

"It's okay, Max," Iggy said as he rubbed my back awkwardly. "As you said, we'll find them and set things right."

"Fang..." I murmured, wishing with every fibre of my being that he was he comforting me like he used to.

"I know," Iggy replied quietly.

+-+-+

Eventually, I lifted my tearstained face and looked out at the ground below us, doing a double take as something caught my eye. It was a perfect circle of stones with a dirt patch in the centre.

"What's that?" I asked, forgetting who I was talking to.

"What?" Iggy asked obliviously.

I sighed. "Come on," I said as I got a sudden burst of new energy and jumped off the edge.

"Max, wha-" Was all I heard from Iggy as I began to lower myself toward the ground. As my feet hit the ground, I managed to trip over them; landing flat on my face on the grass. I heard loud cackling behind me as I sat up and glared at Iggy.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked as if I was genuinely confused.

"Oh, don't use that completely clueless voice. I may be blind, but that doesn't mean that I didn't _hear _you land like an elephant falling out of the sky," he answered as he landed, to my dismay, very gracefully next to me, laughing his head off.

As he laughed, I sighed and looked at the patch of dirt with the stones around it.

"What? No sarcastic comeback? No smack across the head?" Iggy asked with fake confusion.

I took a deep breath, resisting the urge to say something witty.

"I'm just glad that you're yourself again. I don't think that Fang will be this easy."

"We'll figure something out," he assured me as he sat down. "Now, would you like to explain your sudden urge to fly down here?"

I looked down in front of me at the patch of dirt again.

In the centre of the dirt was a large flat stone, lying on its back. Written across it in black permantent marker was this:

_Here lies Total, a member of the Flock of birdkids; Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman and Angel, who have always considered him family._

I ran my hand lightly over the stone, taking in its texture in the same way that I was taking in this new piece of information.

Suddenly, I felt cold as it became darker and a cold wind picked up, rushing past my ears, making the only sound to be heard.

"What's wrong?" Iggy whispered, also noticing the sudden eerie vibes coming from this place.

"Total's dead," I murmured in despair.

**Me: Hehe**

**Iggy: 'Total's dead.....' Why are you laughing about this?**

**Me: -continues to giggle- Fax...**

**Iggy: -headdesk-**

**Me: Kidding ;) Relax, Igs.  
Now, if anyone's interested about reading my Fax oneshot, it's on my profile. -shrugs-**

**Iggy: You don't have to read it...no one else has...**

**Me: -whacks- That's only because I only put it up ten minutes ago!**

**Iggy: Oh...**

**Me: Yes, 'oh!' And, I think that I just worte it for the sake of it**

**Iggy: Yes, you and Rain won't stop writing**

**Me: Exactly in the same way that this conversation seems to keep on going!**

**You know, I just realised that Saint is always advertising my stuff...so I'm going to shamelessly advertise something**

**Iggy: -facepalm-**

**Me: Anyone read Fang's journal yet? Well, you know that I'm a big fan of Christmas, and Fang has written a Christmas poem that I loved. Why don't you guys read it? It's pretty awesomene**

**Iggy: Done?**

**Me: Yup.**

**R&R!?**

**I hope that you liked the FAX!!!**

**Iggy: For the love of all birdkids just update the story!!!!!**

**Me: -laughs-**

**Bell and Ig :D:D:D:D**

**Me: FAX!**

**Iggy: SHUT UP!**


	17. Chapter 17: Surprises

**Me: Hey guys, here's the Christmas update that I promised you :D**

**Now, I'd say more, but Iggy's fallen asleep and I'm exhausted, and I need to drop, so...**

**_MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!_ You guys have been awesome readers and I'm glad that you've stuck with me through my slow updates.**

**I hope that you enjoy the chapter - but, there are probably some mistakes in there. Can you just do me a favor and ignore those. I'll probably come back and fix them later when I'm not so tired, but I was determined to get this chapter up.**

**I hope that you all have a great Christmas and spend lots of time with your families ;)**

The next day, Ig and I made it safely to the school with no other major dilemmas.

Obviously, Nudge had been here and rescued Total from the School, but did she rescue Fang too? There was no way of knowing for certain, so Ig and I knew that we at least had to find out.

We walked along the street towards the monstrosity. Cares were rushing by and people were walking along – enjoying their lives and not knowing about the hell that we'd been through.

"Okay, Ig, what's up with the school?" I asked as my eyes trailed from the top to the bottom of the building. It looked somewhat...nicer than it used to. Like, they had nice, colourful posters up instead of freaking barbed wire, they had painted the rocky walls a nice cream color, and they had even added proper windows so you could see the halls inside the building.

"They opened it up to the public and do tours and stuff. What does it look like now?" He asked, frowning.

"Well, they obviously decided that the scary barbed wire wasn't 'public friendly,' I told him with a smirk.

"About time," Iggy muttered smugly.

"There are also posters advertising how 'great' their institute is," I added, glancing at one that advertised 'The Greater Good,' and glared at it slightly.

"That's not surprising. Gaz and I came here a while ago and it sounds like nothing has changed," he said with a sigh.

I frowned. "You and Gaz came here? Why?"

Iggy tensed, letting his hand drop from my arm, "Yeah, but it's no big deal. "Come on," he answered as he walked ahead towards a big sign.

I followed him quickly as he placed an uncertain hand on top of it.

_I guess he really has been here before, _I thought as stopped next to him, looking at the sign.

"What time does it open today?" Iggy asked as he 'looked' at me.

"Uh..." Since when was _he _running this rescue mission? "It says that it opens at 11:00am."

I glanced at my watch. "Damn, it's only eight."

"So, what do you want to do?" Iggy asked as he turned his head toward the building. So now _I _was in charge? Uh...Right. I was the leader. Jeez, I had obviously started to forget that lately...

_You need to step up again, Max. You seem to have forgotten how important you are to the Flock, _the voice interrupted my tangled thoughts. _Iggy may act like he's confident, but in reality, he's confused and lost and he's relying on you for advice and support – exactly like he used to._

_Fine then, _I thought as I mentally rolled my eyes. _What do you think we should do oh Holy voice? I was thinking along the lines of 'forget about the tours, bust it, get Fang out and leave.' _It was another one of my split second decisions.

_Think about this logically, Maximum. _The voice said sounding impatient.

_Well, I'd love to voice, but the member of my Flock that usually helps me with the 'logic' part of my leadership skills is in that building and I need to get him back. _I answered viciously, longing to see Fang already.

_Max, if you just go bursting in there with Iggy, there's more chance that you'll get captured yourself instead of rescuing him. You would be a lot safer to simply sneak in with a tour group, _the voice said as if it knew everything.

Have I mentioned how much I hate reality? I'd rather just have Fang magically appear next to me, and then we could be on our merry way. But, unfortunately, life doesn't work that way.

"Max? Max? Hello? Are you there?"

I shook my head and looked over at a very confused Iggy.

"Umm, yeah, I'm alright," I replied, still feeling bewildered after talking to the voice.

"Let me guess, the voice?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah," I replied sheepishly. "I say that we go deeper into town and look for some breakfast. After that, we can join a tour group and sneak in. That way, we'll have enough energy to fight if we have to," I finished, somewhat happy with the plan.

Iggy nodded in agreement. "Let's go then, I'm starving," he added as I led him away from the school and toward town.

+-+-+

For a while, the two of us walked around aimlessly, while I assessed the restaurants and cafes around.

In the end, I settled for a place that had a bar setup, but served food and non-alcoholic beverages (how ironic). The reasons why I chose this place were simple; there weren't many people, there was an emergency exit that we had easy access to by sitting near it and none of the workers looked shady or suspicious.

In looking for these simple things, I was reminded of times when we were on the run together...but then it also brought back memories of that sleazy restaurant Gazzy had wanted to go to and we ended up flying through a skylight in front of those people.

I quickly shoved that memory to the back of my mind as Ig and I took a seat at the table near the exit. After that, the usual happened; the waiter came and asked for our orders, we ordered an amazing amount of food, he reminded us that we needed to pay for it all, we ended up in an argument saying that we _could _in fact pay for it, he didn't believe us, finally, I showed him my Max Ride card and he went to get our food.

"Dejavu," Iggy muttered as he restlessly played with a fork.

"I know what you mean. Do we send off an 'untrustworthy' vibe or something?" I asked more to myself as I threw my head back and stared at the ceiling.

Iggy just shrugged and then proceeded to fiddle with everything on the table until our food arrived.

As soon as it came to the table, we thanked the waiter and then stuffed our faces. Of course, we got a few uncertain glances from the few customers that were here as we managed to devour around four or five main dishes of food and six milkshakes.

Just as Iggy moved onto his _sixth_ plate of food, he froze in mid chew.

"What's wrong?" I asked feeling slightly alarmed. In the past, if Iggy froze like that, no matter what the Flock was doing at the time, they'd stop and wait for something to happen. This time was no different.

"There's a TV in the top corner of the room, right?" he asked, throwing a thumb over his shoulder.

I looked behind his head and saw what he was talking about. There was a TV with a news reporter on it.

"Yeah, so?"

"Quickly, come and watch," Iggy said quickly, standing up from the table.

I sighed. He was being really unpredictable today, but, I stood and led him down four small steps to the corner of the room where the TV was. As I watched my eyes widened.

"Thank you for that detailed report on the mysteries of the birdkids, Anna," said the lead reporter. His hair was beginning to become grey around the sides, while it was still dark on top. "As we were saying before, two of the birdkids, almost adults now, have been caught flying on camera this morning by an anonymous source. That's right, folks, they were indeed flying. Here's the footage of the two together," as she said this, a video of Ig and I popped up on the screen. It was from that morning when we were flying to the school.

Luckily, the picture wasn't very clear and all that you could see were our figures and our large wings, but, all the same, I felt my wings tighten against my back.

"How much can you see?" Iggy asked nervously, drumming his fingers on his jeans. Old habits die hard.

"Not enough to actually tell who we-" I was cut off by the reporter speaking again.

"By examining this footage carefully, and comparing the colors of the wings to those of the younger version of the bird children, we've concluded that the people in the video are Maximum Ride and Iggy." And I watched as pictures of us from six years ago appeared on the screen and I placed the palm of my hand on my forehead. I looked around quickly and picked up the remote, quickly changing the channel to the football game, before checking that no one else had seen the broadcast.

"Hey! I was watching that!" shouted the waiter from the top of the stairs.

I sighed, Iggy was going to tease me so much after this but...

"But, dude, the game's on!" I said loudly, pretending to be really interested in what was going on.

I heard Iggy hold back a snicker. "Yeah, man, let her watch the game. Geez!"

I resisted the urge to hit him as my focus remained on the football.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Iggy stiffen as the waiter made his way over to Iggy's other side and began examining us.

Crap.

Without taking my eyes from the screen, I slowly moved my hand out and tapped Iggy's hand twice. He gave the slightest nod as I cheered when they kicked a goal. If need be, we could easily turn, run out the emergency exit, and take off.

The waiter looked around and made sure that no one else in the 'bar' was paying attention before speaking.

"You guys are the birdkids from years ago, right?" He asked in an extremely serious tone.

"No," I answered firmly, trying to make him think he was mistaken.

"But we were part of Fang's army five years ago. We've always liked them." I said, slightly stumbling on Fang's name.

"Yeah," the waiter replied while leaning on the table. "I was too."

I tore my eyes away from the screen and looked at him. He was quite young – maybe our age?

"I used to follow Fang's blog all the time. Ironically, my family was on a holiday in Germany near the castle when Max, Angel, Nudge and Total got captured there," he smiles slightly as he recalled the memory, while Ig and I flinched at it instead.

"As soon as I'd heard about the chaos at the castle, I snuck out and joined the group of kids. I was the first person to throw a flaming arrow over the fence...after the rock went of course."

I tried to hold back a smile. I could remember seeing that flaming arrow that hit the flyboy – making it burst into flames and stand there like an idiot. After that, all hell broke loose...well, for them anyway.

"I had just turned fifteen when they disappeared. Fang said in his blog that they'd broken up for good – it even made the news. At first I couldn't believe it, but then they dropped off the radar. Protests, by us, started after that against Itex, but we lost..." he sighed and my hands bawled into fists.

"I just wish that they'd get back together and stop this madness," he finished while shaking his head sadly.

"We do too," Iggy said with a nod.

"Well, are you?" He asked hopefully.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Look," he said as he lowered his voce to a whisper. "I know that you two are Max and Iggy – two of the Flock from five years ago. I used to follow Fang's blog and the news updates, so I can recognise you easily!"

I sighed and took my eyes away from the boring football game as Iggy turned to face him and I stepped out from behind him.

"What do you want?" Iggy asked impatiently.

By the way he was standing, I could tell that his feelings mirrored mine – we both wanted to be out of here on the next air current.

"I just want to know if you're getting back together and stopping what Itex has become!" he said, looking between the two of us.

"And what do you plan on doing with this information-" I started, but was abruptly cut off by Iggy.

"Yes," said Iggy curtly.

I held a hand up to whack him but he grabbed it. Don't ask how he did that...

"Good, I'm glad...and don't worry about the food – I'll pay for it. Fang mentioned that you eat a lot," he said with a small laugh.

Fang...I'd almost forgotten about him in all this chaos.

"Umm, we have to go now," I said quickly, grabbing Iggy and dragging him toward the door.

"And, by the way, who are you?" I asked, suddenly feeling curious.

The guy spread a huge grin across his face. A grin that seemed kind of familiar...

"I'm Sam. It's nice to see you again, _Jeff....Max."_

Iggy, being the smartass he is, opened his mouth to say something that could, and most likely would, embarrass the crap out of me, but I dragged him roughly out the door before he got the chance.

It was Sam, from the school in West Virginia five years ago.

**Me: SAM!!! Dun dun duuuuuunnnnn! Okay....bed.**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!! hehe, I love saying that.**

**-Bell**


	18. Chapter 18: Fang

**Me: Sorry for the slow updates but I didn't really feel like writing this for some reason...**

**Iggy: Even though she had it all written out!**

**Me: -laughs nervously- but I had to rewrite some of it because the scene where Fang meets Max was really badly written**

**Iggy: -sighs-**

**Me: Anyway, before we start the chapter, somone said in a review that they'd like to see more of Nudge because the story is about her. I agree, and I hate that I have to write In Max's POV instead of hers. However, when I was writing this, I realised that Nudges pace was moving too fast and if I didn't focus on writing Max's POV, they'd be too far behind and wouldn't be able to catch up to Nudge in time (which would end the story in a really bad way...)**

**So, there are now two options.**

**1. I write more of Nudge's POV and leave Max, Iggy and Fang alone for a while. This will cause you to have a big cliffie to wait on from Nudge's POV while I write Max's POV (bleh)**

**2. I can finish writing Max's POV (one or two more chapters) and continue alternating the POV's like the beginning.**

**What do you guys think?**

**Iggy: You've really thought this through, haven't you?**

**Me: I know how it's going to end, I know exactly what Nudge is gonna do next, I know what Max is gonna do next and I know how they're gonna defeat T.G....yeah, I have got it planned out :D**

**Iggy: -facepalm- Just start the chapter!**

**Me: Okay. FAX WARNING! I was in a fax mood when I wrote this :D**

I looked down at my watch.

Ten minutes.

That was how much time we had until the tour started.

That was also how much time Iggy had spent laughing.

"Okay, I think that you've had a good laugh, but it's time to focus on our task," I said irritably.

I bet you're thinking _'Wouldn't Max have hit him by now?' _Well, I had, maybe about five times but he wouldn't stop. So I decided to let him have his fun.

He stopped and 'looked' down at me. "Fine, how much time do we have left?"

"Nine minutes," I replied, tapping my foot.

People had already gathered outside the doors to the building, seeming extremely excited to go in.

Maybe the Flock weren't the only ones who've lost it.

A few minutes later, Iggy suddenly sighed. "I guess that's it's finally time to see Fang again," he said as he faced the door.

"Huh?" I asked as I looked towards the school.

The doors flew open and out stepped a man in his twenties. He had light brown hair that was spiked up all over the place, as if he'd been full of electricity just minutes before.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the scientific research facility, known as the school," he said brightly with a too-big-to-be-real smile as if he was sick of repeating the same phrase over and over. I rolled my eyes.

"By 'welcome' I assume that he means 'RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! SAVE YOURSELVES!" Iggy muttered, his gaze somewhere toward the ground.

I held back a snicker as the man continued.

"I'm glad that you could make it to our eleven o'clock session today, and I'm sure that you'll enjoy your time looking at all the wonders that science has to offer. I'm Ryan and I'll be your guide for today. Before we go inside, I'd like to advise you to stay with the group at _all _times and not to go opening doors that you shouldn't as there are some projects that are top secret... Anyway, there are some white coats on the hooks as you come in with visitor tags on them, so if you could please put those on when you come in. Okay, follow me," he finished as he turned and walked back into the building, followed by the big, excited crowd of people. **(AN: If you haven't noticed, this is exactly what Ryan said when he had Nudge's tour group. He always repeats the same thing to ever group - I'd hate that job)**

Ig and I then, very reluctantly, followed them.

This was combining two of our least favourite things; large groups of people and the school, _bleh_.

As soon as we walked through the doors, both of us staggered back from the strong smell. I scrunched my face up and Iggy covered his nose with his hand as we pushed past people and grabbed a coat each off the hooks and waited for...uh, Ryan, to continue.

"Now if you could all follow me this way..." he began and I watched as the tour group rounded a corner before Ig and I took off down another random hall.

"Now what?" Ig asked as the two of us walked quietly, but quickly down the hallway.

I looked around and could see that there were doors on either side of us all the way down the hall. Each door had a number and letter code on it, – maybe to represent each experiment? – and it seemed to be in an order.

'g4789453ghs, g839554sda, g940572kdf...'

"F74283gld," I stated definitely, allowing my eyes to continue looking at each door as we walked past them.

"Umm...that's Fang's name, right? How's that gonna help us?" Iggy asked confused.

"Each door down this hallway has a name written on it," I explained. "And there's doors on either side of us that progress all the way down the hall. I think that they're the names of experiments..." I trailed off as I began to read the names again.

'g2749375hyg, g473950eub, f94344msd, f635239uhe, _f74283gld..._'

I stopped, my heart pounding against my chest so hard it sounded like it wanted to escape and jump out of my ribcage.

I didn't have to say anything as Ig reached out until he felt the handle, and pushed down. He swung the door open slowly and the two of us entered the room, not sure of what we'd find.

+-+-+

When I awoke, I was on Gazzy's bed in his room. I sat up and looked over at Gaz, who was sitting at his desk, fiddling with wires.

I got up quickly, instantly feeling dizzy and sitting back down again for a moment, before walking over to him. I leaned on the desk and watched him work for only a few seconds before he jumped.

"Good to see that you're alright," he said, looking up from his device to acknowledge me. He then went back to work on what looked like one of his bombs.

"Yeah, I really don't know what happened-" I cut myself off as I stared down at what Gazzy was doing. The wires were moving by themselves, without him touching them at all. The metal fragments were joining together and the wires were connecting with ease. It was unbelievable. The bomb was practically making _itself._

"How are you doing that?" I breathed.

"You like it? It's my new skill – I'm able to put things together by using my mind. It makes bomb making easier," he said quickly finished it off.

I smiled as I opened my hand and watched as a round metal object shot across the table and came into contact with my hand.

"I guess that you're still good at that," Gaz said with a smile and he looked up at me with amused, blue eyes.

"Gaz," I said quietly and his smile vanished. "Are you going to help me get back to the past?"

He looked away again and took the bomb in his hands.

"Of course I am," he said quietly. "I would do _anything _to stop this from happening. Anything."

I nodded.

"But, first, you're going to have to explain what the situation is," Gaz said as he placed the bomb in his lap and turned to face me.

I opened my mouth, but he held up his hand quickly. "In the _shortest_ form possible," he added with a smirk and I smiled at him before beginning my tale.

**(AN: You know, this was supposed to be the end of the chapter, but I didn't want to be too cruel...)**

+-+-+

Ig and I stepped inside the room, carefully shutting the door behind us. The room was plain white – just like all the others, I guess – and there were no windows. In fact, the only thing that was in there was a dark figure hunched over in a corner.

I rushed over to him and dropped to my knees, my hands shaking, and I felt Iggy sit down behind me.

"Fang?" I asked quietly.

He was slightly rocking back and forth as if everything was making him slowly insane.

"No," he muttered between clenched teeth and he shut his eyes as if he was in pain. "Fang...isn't...here..."

I couldn't stop myself from shaking. Seeing him like this scared me. It scared me more than anything else I'd seen in my life. It was scarier than listening to the experiments scream as they died painful deaths, scarier than watching erasers kill innocent people at the school and even made me more afraid than being in that isolation tank.

"Fang, it's me, Max. And Iggy's here too. We're going to help you and the rest of the Flock. Come with us, please," I tried, afraid to touch him just yet.

"Go away," he said darkly. "You're just a figure of my imagination and you don't exist!" He shouted and I was taken aback.

I looked at his back and saw two lumps under his top – his wings. My eyes then trailed up to his dark, mattered hair that was sprawled everywhere. I eased myself forward a bit until I was sitting next to him. It was then that everything that we'd been through together came back to me. I remembered our first kiss in the cave and how confused I was, I remembered all of our late night flights together, I remembered how his smiles used to brighten up the area no matter how dark it was and I remembered that feeling of love that I used to feel we looked at each other – and I still felt it when I looked at him.

When he left, I died inside and it was one of the worst pains that I have ever felt.

I wasn't going to lose him again. And if that happened, I don't think that I would be able to survive the pain this time.

I leaned over and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. I felt him flinch, but I leant into him gently anyway.

"Fang, look at me, please," I whispered, my eyes pleading.

After a moment, his head slowly turned and I met his eyes. For the first time in my life since I'd known Fang, I looked into his eyes and I saw nothing. It was as if the life had left them a long time ago, but I knew what to say to help him.

"I love you."

I leaned in and placed my lips against his. At first, he was unresponsive and he seemed like he was paralysed, but after a few moments of me being persistent, he kissed back. His lips slowly moving against mine and his hand trailed through my long, tangled hair and then down my back, making my wings tingle.

After five long years we were together again, and we were kissing. And, this time, it wasn't a dream – he was really here.

When we broke apart I held his face in my right hand for a minute before hugging him tightly. Amazingly, Fang didn't hesitate and hugged me back.

"_Don't ever leave me again."  
"I won't, not ever..."_

I heard the voices of our younger selves echoing in my mind.

"You said you'd never leave me again," I whispered into Fang's ear, letting the tears fall.

"I know," he whispered into my hair. "And I am so sorry. But..."

"What?" I asked through the tears.

"I can't believe you're really here," he murmured, his face still buried into my neck.

But, before I could reply, someone coughed and we released each other. I turned and looked behind me to see a very disturbed Iggy.

"I hate to break up this little reunion...actually, I don't. EWW!" he shuddered and I rolled my eyes, looking back at Fang who seemed to be looking Iggy up and down at his new appearance compared to five years ago.

"But I think that we should be getting out of here," Iggy said quickly.

Fang put a half smile across his face as he stood up and made his way over to Iggy who had forced himself into a corner after our recent 'make out' session.

"Iggy," he said with a chuckle and he held out his hand in a fist. Iggy, seeming to know what was going on, bumped fists with him and Fang patted him on the back in a brotherly way.

"Dude, it's good to hear your voice again," Iggy said with a huge grin.

"Yeah," Fang said in a, well, Fang-like manner.

Iggy sighed. "Same old Fang," he muttered as he opened the door and walked out into the hall.

Fang turned and held out his hand to me.

"I'm sorry for leaving," he said again and his eyes locked onto mine.

"This isn't your fault – it was T.G.'s. He did this when he came here five years ago and took Nudge away from us," I replied, taking his calloused hand in mine and walking out to meet Iggy. "But, even though that's the case, I'm going to make it right again – with the help of Nudge."

Fang stopped dead in his tracks and Ig and I turned to face him.

"Nudge came here, didn't she?" he murmured, avoiding our eyes. "I think that she left because I didn't believe she was there."  
"What do you mean by that?" Iggy asked, raising his eyebrows in question.

"After a while of staying here, I started having...hallucinations. I couldn't distinguish what had happened in the past and what was happening in reality. I started seeing..."

"The Flock?" I asked as he met my eyes again.

He stiffly nodded.

I shook my head as if breaking a trance. "We can discuss all of this later. Let's just get the heck out of here."

I began to move briskly down the hall, but Fang grabbed my arm.

"What is it?" I asked impatiently.

"If you really want to fix things between the Flock, there's something that you need to see."

I looked hard at him. Fang never showed much emotion – and now was no different – but there was something in his expression...sadness? Anxiety? I think that he was worried about something.

"Max?" he said unsurely.

"Yeah," I breathed. "Show us."

With a curt nod, he led the two of down the maze of passageways towards God knows what.

**Me: There, I hope that this chapter was ok. I had my MR books sprawled out all over the bed in an attempt to write this, lol**

**Iggy: She locked me out of her room and told me that she needed quiet time. I was listening to my ipod! How is that noisy?**

**Me: You were singing along with it in an amzingly tone-deaf way at the top of your lungs!**

**Iggy: ....What's your point?**

**Me: -facepalm- Please review. And don't forget to tell me which option you want. 1 or 2?**

**Iggy: Okay, I'm going to have a shower**

**Me: Okay...**

**Iggy: -leaves-**

**R&R?!!?!?!**

**Bell and Ig**


	19. Chapter 19: Hiatus

**Me: Hey, guys, it's me…**

**Iggy: And me…still here if you were wondering**

**Me: I bet they weren't**

**Iggy: -glares-**

**Me: Anyway, I've had a pretty crappy week I'm afraid, and I have a reason for the slow updates as well as a temporary hiatus that is about to happen -sighs-**

**Iggy: We're going to the beach!**

**Me: Uh-huh, and there is no internet connection there for two weeks, so there is no way that I'm gonna be able to update anything while I'm there.**

**And, the reason for the slow updates is that my laptop crashed So, I'm in distress because I've lost everything that I've been working on for a long time – that including an _Iggy Ramblings_ story that Ig and I were working on…**

**However, I have been lucky with _Six years past_ and haven't lost anything for that (so we'll see how I go).**

**Also, the updates may be slow because I need to use dad's computer and it's hard to type on the keyboard and I have to constantly look up at the screen because it's positioned really high above the keyboard…which makes life extremely frustrating!**

**Iggy: Llamas.**

**Me: What the hell?**

**Iggy: I hadn't said anything in a while**

**Me: Whatever, I really don't have time for this._ 'How long is forever'_ readers, expect an update soon. Unfortunately I don't know how soon -shrugs- With this computer not much is possible**

**'Songfic oneshots' readers, there will be an update after HLIF. I'll see how I go…and I think that's it**

**Iggy: E-shaped house pranks...**

**Me: -shrugs- No idea when that will be updated. I'll have to see if Rain has anything that I can use as that got deleted as well! I've lost everything, damnit...**

**Iggy: -sighs- Are you going to end it?**

**Me: -nods- Okay, sorry for the inconvenience and I'll update things asap**

**-Bell and Ig**


	20. Chapter 20: Time for Angel

**Me: Well, I'm finally updating this! I know that I took forever but that was because of that Hiatus and stuff happened, but I'm back now :)**

**Iggy: ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZ**

**Me: -facepalm- And I really need to go to bed, so our little commentary thing will have to wait until the next chapter.**

**I hope you like it - while writing this I was practically in tears, I thought that it was really sad...**

**Anyway, read on..uh, readers? Read on readers! Wow, I really am tired.**

We all walked down the hall in a giant chain; Fang was holding my hand as if he was afraid I'd leave again and Iggy was holding my other arm, letting us drag him along.

After walking for a few minutes, I was amazed by how well Fang knew his way around. I guess after six years he really knew where he was going.

We were going down hall after hall and seeming to turn down endless passageways until we came to a door marked 'Director.' I instantly felt my heart speed up and my jaw clench tightly as I looked at my seemingly insane boyfriend (yes, I did just refer to him as my boyfriend, deal with it!).

"Fang, do you want to get out of here _alive_!?" I whispered angrily.

He didn't say anything but gave me a look that said 'trust me.' I gave the slightest nod and didn't break our gaze. It had felt like forever since I'd looked into his dark eyes and now I wished that I could do it forever. But, of course, Iggy would never let a moment like that last.

"Where are we?" Ig asked as he casually leaned against a wall.

"The Directors office," Fang said simply.

I watched as Iggy's face became pale and a look of fear flashed in his eyes before he turned and began to walk down the hall. "Thanks for the amazing tour, Fang, but I think I've overstayed my welcome. I also think that I'd like to keep my freedom and sanity intact-"

I rolled my eyes as I roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Fang, what are we doing?" He asked in panic, but Fang had already knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice rang cheerfully from the other side of the door.

Fang gently grabbed my arm and, before I could protest, pulled the two of us into the room, shutting the door behind him.

The first thing that I noticed was a bookcase off to the side of the room with lots of books in it. However, I didn't have any time to look at them, because I was interrupted by that bubbly voice that I'd heard earlier.

"Can I help you?" the girl asked, sounding too happy for my liking.

I looked over at her, unblinking, and she stared back with a friendly smile plastered across her face.

"Can I help you?" she asked again, sounding more impatient now.

My breath caught in my throat as I felt a sudden recognition. I took slow steps across the room and stopped at her desk, not taking my eyes off the girl the whole time. Nobody said a word as the two of us kept staring at each other, not breaking eye contact once.

"Angel?" I whispered, placing my hands gently on the desk.

"H-how do you know my name?" She asked, her smile instantly gone from her face.

"It's me, Ma-"

"She doesn't remember."

I turned around to look at Fang, breaking my eye contact with Angel.

"They captured Angel shortly after I came here. The Whitecoats studied her mind controlling capabilities and turned them against her. She's been programmed to be the director and that's all she knows how to do," he explained and I turned back around to face the now 12 year old girl that I had considered my baby all those years ago.

"What are you talking about? Get out of here now before I call security!" She said frantically, going from friendly to afraid in an instant.

I walked cautiously around her, kneeling down on her right side so I was slightly shorter than her.

"Sweetie, I am so sorry," I began quietly, patting her knee. "We never should have split up the Flock. It was a stupid mistake and I wish more than anything that we could undo it.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Ange, but if you can you need to fight this. I know you can do it because you were always so strong for your age and you never gave up, even when things seemed impossible." I paused for a minute when I saw tears beginning to form in her eyes but I continued. "And even though you disobeyed me sometimes and we didn't always see eye to eye, you were always my baby Angel. And after you left, I missed you so much that it would ache until I just didn't care about anything anymore."

I watched as she doubled over in her chair, clutching her head in her hands. I put my arm around her shoulder comfortingly and the boys came over to; Iggy stroking her hair and Fang patting her arm.

"We can't let them push us around, Ange," I continued as she moaned and struggled against the mind control. "I need you to keep fighting because I love you- _we _love you and we need you more than anything. I once remember saying that three of us or five of us isn't 'us.' 'Us' means all six. And that's still true. I want to be whole again. Please don't give up," by the end it was almost a whisper, but I knew that she heard me.

Her head suddenly shot up out of her hands and her eyes darted around the room quickly before they stopped on me.

"Max!" She cried happily as she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. "Thank you."

"No problem, Ange," I replied as I stroked her ponytail, feeling the knotted hair between my fingers. "Good to have you back."

We stayed like this for a few minutes before she let go and wiped tears from her eyes as she took in my features. She then turned around and studied Fang and Iggy carefully before running straight into Fang's arms and I swear that he _smiled_ as he hugged her.

After she had let go, she turned to Iggy but didn't hug him like I thought she would.

"Yes," she said quietly and he nodded solemnly.

"Am I missing something here?" I asked confused, looking between the two of them.

Angel gave Iggy a quick cuddle before turning to face me again.

"He wanted to know if Nudge had come here," Angel said grimly. "I told him said that she had, but she couldn't break me out of my trance, so she left with Total."

Iggy turned his head to face me and nodded.

"What is it?" Fang asked.

"Total didn't make it," I explained making Angel's face fall. "Ig and I found his grave outside a cave we stopped at last night."

"While I was being controlled by the School I did some horrible things," She said as more tears rolled silently down her cheeks. "They made me cut out Total's voice box! And now, I can't even say that I'm sorry."

She then sunk down onto her knees and began to sob in despair. I sat down next to her and pulled her into my lap; just like I used to do when she was upset.

"I know that Total already knows that you didn't mean to do that. He knows how much he means to you and how much you love him, it's okay, Ange."

"Uh, guys?"

Angel and I turned our heads to look up at Iggy who had his head tilted to one side.

"Someone's coming," he whispered.

"Everyone over here," said Angel, springing up from my lap and dashing over to a door on the left side of the room, her boots clicking on the floor as she did so. She opened up the door and pushed the three of us inside.

We were in her closet filled with clothes, shoes and other accessories – and it definitely wasn't built to fit three oversized Avian Americans.

I pushed passed the two boys, almost making Iggy topple over into Fang as I did so, and pressed my ear up against the door.

"Ryan, what do you want??" Angel asked, her voice impatient and cold.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Ride," he stuttered nervously.

"Just tell me what you need, Ryan. I'm very busy and I don't have time for any of your nonsense." She said quickly.

"But this is very important, Miss Ride. I think that I lost two of my tour group," he said anxiously.

There was silence on Angel's end.

I looked over my shoulder at Iggy, who was holding his breath and waiting for what she was going to say next. She wouldn't rat us out would she?

"Also," Ryan continued after clearing his throat. "It seems that experiment F74283gld has gone missing from his room, which is quite strange. I thought we had broken him years ago."

I looked over at Fang, but his expression was blank. However, I'd known him long enough to know that he was nervous.

"Well, what are you doing telling me about it!? Go and find them! Start looking in the west wing of the building and then make your way back here, got it!?" She said loudly with strong authority apparent in her voice.

"Yes Miss Ride," Ryan said obediently and I heard him hurry across the room and shut the door behind him.

I slowly eased the door open and popped my heard around it to find Angel rushing around the room and putting things into a bag.

"Come on," she said, as she took out her ponytail and shook her head, causing her very long, blonde curls to fall down her back and stop a few centimetres above her bottom. "We need to get out of here quickly before Ryan has the whole building looking for you guys."

I nodded and ushered the boys out of the closet just as Angel ditched her white coat and swung her bag over her shoulder. She then clumsily ran over to the closet and took off her high heeled boots (probably knowing they were useless for where she was going) and put on a comfortable pair of flats.

Fang opened the door and everyone dashed outside, making a break for it down the hall. Angel took up the lead so she could show us the way out, followed by Fang, then me and then Iggy.

Eventually, we came to the entrance and raced out the door – Iggy and I slipping off our coats as we went – and as soon as we were outside we leapt into the air.

Right in front of a whole tour group of people.

**Sorry about any mistakes that you may have found. After this, there is one more chapter involving Max, Fang, Iggy and Angel and then it's back to Gazzy and Nudge. -sighs- However, I think that there may be only five chapters left of this story, so there isn't much more time.**

**Please R&R. I would love to know what you think ;)**

**-Bell**


	21. Chapter 21: Max is back

**Me: So...heh...**

**Iggy: How long has it been?**

**Me: You mean, 'How long is forever?'**

**Iggy: -facepalm-**

**Me: Okay, I haven't updated this in a looonnngggg time. Don't you just hate writers block?**

**Iggy: And don't you just hate when an Author is too lazy to update?**

**Me: -whacks- I wasn't too lazy. I just really couldn't write this story for some reason. The beginning is really crappy because I couldn't write it...but, anyway, it's here now, so I hope you like it :)**

Cameras flashed bright, white light all around as we rose up and slowly left the crowd behind us. We were moving at an extremely slow pace compared to what we were used to, but this was really happening. I was flying with three of the Flock backing me, and it was just pure bliss.

On my right was Iggy, who looked about as happy as I was with his arms outstretched, and his eyes closed, letting his wings carry him along.

On my left, Angel was flying kind of lopsidedly with a look of determination across her features as her wings cut awkwardly through the air at odd angles.

Next to her was Fang. His face was practically twisted in concentration while his wings beat in a way that would be considered 'off-beat.' Kind of like how the Erasers used to fly years ago, but I wouldn't tell him that. I actually value my life.

"Alright guys," I said getting their attention. "We're going to rest up for a while and, uh, get used to the concept of flying again before we head out."

After realising who I was referring to, Fang shot a glare at me, but I ignored it.

"How did you guys get here?" Angel asked a few moments later after her flying had slightly evened out.

"It's…a long story," I said with a sigh, glancing over at Iggy who was smiling evilly.

"We met up at my apartment," Iggy started, his sightless eyes somehow focused on me. "And then Max and I flew here, stayed in a cave for a night and then busted you out of the school. Oh, and we met _Sam _but he wasn't that important, right Max?"

Fang and Angel just stared gobsmacked at me while my cheeks reddened slightly. I glared daggers at him, not caring that it was useless. He was _so_ dead later. Like, maybe I could get one of his bombs and-

"Who?" Fang asked between clenched teeth, his jaw becoming set.

"No one, Fang. Iggy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. He's had a long day and needs his rest-"

"No I don't-"

"Yes. You. Do."

Iggy must have caught the murderous rage in my voice, because he shut up after that. So did Fang…and Angel. Wow, things were really going downhill.

"Come on," I said eventually, the cave coming into view. "We'll stay there for the night and then…well, we'll discuss the plan when we land."

_**Don't lose sight of what's important Max, **_the voice warned.

_What's that supposed to mean? _I retorted as I angled my wings toward the cave, my long hair beating my shoulders. I brushed it away angrily, remembering the reason why I used to cut it short. _That I should focus on my personal hygiene more? Like, cutting my annoying hair?_

I swear the voice sighed. _**No, Max. I mean, what is your goal right now?**_

_Get the Flock back together, be a family…_

_**Nudge.**_

_What about Nudge?_

_**You need to get her home. Stop T.G. Save the world. Cut your hair…**_

Okay, since when did the voice get a sense of humour? _But if we send Nudge home and defeat T.G., what will happen to me? To _this_ flock? To _this_ time?_

The voice paused for a moment as we all landed clumsily on the cave floor.

"Max, I-"

"Hang on. Voice," I muttered as I walked deeper into the cave, only stopping when it was so dark that I couldn't see my own hand.

_**Time is a complicated thing, Max. **_The voice said._** It can move forward, backward, stop and go, all at the same time, and no one would know the difference while that happened. It can be bent to peoples will and change if need be, but sometimes those changes aren't always for the better. Sometimes, when these changes are made, people die…**_

_Total…_

…_**people who were meant to stay together grow apart…**_

_The Flock…_

…_**and the world literally falls apart at the seams in the wrong hands...**_

_Itex…T.G…._

_**But you can stop it, Max. You're lucky enough to get another chance at this; a chance to fix what T.G. did to your world. I may not know what will happen to this universe after you do so, but fixing the time stream is more important. It has to be done. And you're the one to do **_help_** do it.**_

I ran my fingers slowly through my hair, pushing through the knots until my fingers reached the tips. _What do you mean by '_help?' I asked, but I got no answer.

I then held me head up high and walked towards the light at the end of the tunnel where I'd come in. I knew what I had to do. I now understood what the voice meant by cutting my hair, and I now knew that it wasn't some joke.

"The voice is back?" Fang asked as I stopped near the edge of the rock face, my body facing away from everyone. I nodded.

"Iggy, can I borrow your knife?" I asked, keeping my body facing away from my flock but I turned my head.

Iggy frowned at me, but took out his pocket knife that I knew he was carrying, and handed it to me.

I then pushed all of my hair over my shoulders until it flowed in a knotty mess down my back. Then, taking it all in one hand, I began to angrily saw at it with the knife, my teeth clenching as I did so.

_No more being a coward and hiding…_

Wisps of my hair fell at my feet and Angel gasped.

_No more being alone…_

I closed my eyes and continued to saw at it.

_No more caring for only myself…_

I felt my hair becoming lighter.

_No more of being something that I'm not…_

_No more ignoring the world. I was going to save it._

My hair came away from my head and fell to the floor. I smiled slightly as my now short hair gently caressed my face. I felt like I was _myself _again. Like, I suddenly knew who I was for the first time in so long.

I slowly turned around to face my puzzled flock.

"Maximum Ride is back."

**.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................**

"What do you mean they're gone?" I shouted in complete disbelief, angry that we'd missed Gazzy and Nudge by one freaking hour.

"It means exactly what it means. They're gone," the annoying kid replied. What was his name? Oh, Scooter. Does he have a brother named 'Car?'

"I already knew that!" I snapped, losing all patience with this loser. "But _where _have they gone?"

He folded his arms and glared at me, which hardly had any affect at all. "I don't believe that I'm at liberty to say anything. Chayton told me specifically not to tell _anyone. _So I'm not going to."

Before he had time to blink, I grabbed his shirt in my hands and slammed him up against the wall, my lip curling up into a snarl.

"Tell. Me."

"Whoa, whoa, Max," Iggy said, stepping forward and pulling me off Scooter who was looking very pale. Fang reached out and put his hands on my shoulders, gently pulling me back until my back was pressed against his chest. His hands gently squeezed my shoulders in a way that said 'wait.'

Iggy then continued. "Scooter, dude, we go way back, I've known you for as long as Chayton. Can you give us any details?"

Wait, I knew that they knew each other – it was the way that we got into this massive castle thing – but I didn't think they knew each other for _that _long.

I watched as Scooter's glare faltered when he glanced at Iggy. "Why do you want to know?"

I glanced over at Fang and Angel who were remaining silent.

"It's a long story," I said, finally calming down. "But, the reality is, Nudge and Ga- Chayton are in danger. We need to go help them and I know that your information will be useless if Chayton is _dead." _

Scooter seemed to think about this for a moment.

"Fine, I'll talk. They went to the Museum of Natural History."

What a perfect place for our final battle to fix our _past. _Don't you just love irony?

**Me: Well, I really can't be bothered writing an AN right now 'cause I'm really tired...**

**Iggy: -is asleep-**

**Me: Yeah...so I hope you guys liked it :)**

**-Bell and Ig**


	22. Chapter 22: The truth finally comes out

**Me: Hi everyone!**

**Iggy: Yeah...hi...**

**Me: Alright, I'm just going to cut to the chase. Iggy, should I give them the good news or the bad news?**

**Iggy: I say give them the good news and make them happy, and then crush that happiness with the bad news :D**

**Me: ...**

**Iggy: What?**

**Me: ...**

**Iggy: BELL!**

**Me: Alright, alright...**

**The good news is that I have the ending of this fic written! Or, mostly written anyway. It won't take me long to put all of the pieces together!**

**Iggy: And the bad news?**

**Me: Heh...well, I planned on writing two more chapters for this fic. No more than that. However, I sat down and began writing...and it ended up at a grand-total of about 5,000 words. Yeah...for one chapter? Not happening.**

**Therefore, I've had to divide it up into three chapters...or, at least, I _hope _that it stays as three chapters. I have no idea how this is gonna go...  
So, the bad news is basically that there is a major cliffie at the end of this chapter because I had to cut it off in the middle. SORRY GUYS!**

**Iggy: Yeah, she's so evil**

**Me: -eyeroll- However, I'll update this a second time really quickly 'cause I already have the next few chapters written! So don't worry!**

**And, second order of business.**

**_This chapter is dedicated to 'for the love of Iggy' because I feel bad about waiting so long to write these questions up for her._**

**The answers to your questions are at the bottom!**

**Now, on with the fic!**

**

* * *

**"Okay, out of all the places to go, why would T.G. go here?" I asked quietly as Gazzy and I walked the halls as slowly and as silently as possible. The whole building was so quiet that the sounds of our _own footsteps_ unnerved us to such an extent that we constantly kept looking over our shoulders, always on alert.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gazzy barely whispered. "It's the Museum of Natural _History_! He's a _Time traveller, _Nudge."

"Oh yeah," I said, deep in thought as we walked past the huge dinosaur skeleton, AKA the first thing that you think of when you think about the Museum of Natural history. My eyes widened in wonder as I stared at it and pushed down the urge to ask Gazzy to stop so we could get a better look. I needed to focus. Max wasn't here to make the decisions for me, so I couldn't sit back and be one of the younger kids anymore. I needed to focus on the task at hand.

We continued walking past all of the other dinosaurs that I didn't know the names of, and entered a room that had a giant whale hanging from the ceiling, its huge body almost taking up the whole room.

"It should be just through here," Gazzy whispered, looking over his shoulder again as I almost slipped on the tiled floor.

"What is?" I replied, squinting in the gloom, trying to make out what was in the next area of the museum.

"It's- shh!" Gazzy stopped dead in his tracks, frowning in concentration as he listened. I listened too and finally understood why he had stopped.

"What is that?" I said quietly, trying not to drown out the sound of the banging coming from the next room. It was hardly noticeable, but it was there. "It sounds like…metal being hit together."

Gaz nodded. "He's trying to build something…that can't be good."

The two of us looked at each other before continuing to walk briskly through, trying to be fast but quiet at the same time. We then slipped silently into the next room and hid behind a giant Grandfather clock. I gazed up at it, completely stunned by the sheer hugeness of it. But, as I listened and tuned out the loud sounds of metal being together, I could hear more than one clock in the room. Angling my head around the huge clock, I could see the room clearly. There were hundreds of different clocks scattered throughout the room, all different shapes, sizes and colors. It was incredible…but completely unrelated to natural history.

"Why is there a clock exhibit?" I whispered, feeling confused. "They have nothing to do with natural history."

Gazzy sighed. "I don't know, Nudge. Nothing is as it should be anymore, so I don't even question- what's that?"

I frowned. "What's what?"

"That sound, other than the metal banging together and the annoying clocks."

I listened really hard, trying to tune out the banging of metal and the ticking. "Is that…is that a blowtorch?"

"Sounds like it. What could he be working on that's so important?" Gazzy enquired as we both curiously poked our heads out from being the clock.

Looking through the gloom, I could make out a figure in the corner of the room, almost carelessly welding two small pieces of metal together. Aside from that and the clocks that seemed to surround us on every available surface, there wasn't much to look at.

"I wish he would move so we could see what he's doing," I muttered impatiently and Gazzy nudged me.

"Be quiet or you're gonna-"

But he had no time to finish his sentence because he was cut off by the door slamming shut with a bang that echoed throughout the room. T.G. then spun around, dropping the blowtorch, which he had thankfully turned off, at his feet.

"Ah, thank you, my dear girl," T.G. said in his strong Scottish accent. "Who needs to build something new when you can fix what's broken? Come on out now, don't be shy."

I sighed in defeat as I took a hesitant step out from behind the clock. T.G. stayed on the opposite side of the room in a defensive position while Gazzy joined me and placed a steady hand on my shoulder.

"Now, give me the mechanism and then we can all be on our merry way, alright?" He said calmly, his icy glare sending shivers down my spine.

Slowly, I slid my backpack off my back and dropped it onto the floor. I then reached inside and took out the clock-thing that still had the crack etched across the face. I clutched it tight to my chest.

"That's a good girl," T.G. said wearing a wicked grin. "Just hand it over."

"Not yet," I said decisively, keeping my voice even. T.G.'s eye twitched. "First, you need to repair the damage that you've done to my past!"

There was silence in the room for a short moment before T.G. erupted into hysterical laughter. He was laughing so hard that he had to clutch his stomach for support.

"What's so funny?" I asked, practically fuming. I had had about enough of this stupid alternate universe.

He quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. "My dear, it seems to me that you don't fully understand the whole concept of time travel. What a pity…" He took a few slow steps towards us and we took a few back. "Time is a very complicated thing, my girl that can take more than a lifetime to understand, so I don't expect _you _to be able to grasp it. But, since you're going to die anyway and I will have all the time in the world, I may as well waste a few mere seconds explaining it to you.

"You obviously have this mindset that _I _am what damaged your past. That _I _am the cause of all of your problems and that _I _can fix everything. But you're wrong. You see, even if I _wanted _to fix your past, I couldn't. I may be a time traveller but I am not in control of what happens past, present or future.

"All of this wasn't _my _fault. I didn't ruin the time stream or split up your precious family. I can't do that; I'm not a magician! I am not in control of what does and doesn't get lost in time. What has happened is meant to be, and it will happen _no matter what you do._"

I took a few deep breaths and stared at him while he stared wickedly back. Was it really true? Was there really no way to fix this? Was this…all really just meant to be, no matter what T.G. or I did? Was the Flock not going to be together…ever again?

Forever?

"Nudge…"

I looked over my shoulder at Gazzy who was staring straight at T.G. with an expressionless facade.

"Did…anyone ever tell you why we split up? About the argument that the Flock had that forced us over the edge?"

"No. I never thought that it was important…"

"Nudge, the argument we had…it was over how we were going to find you and where you had gone. We all had different opinions, different ideas on how to find you…we were shouting and screaming at each other and we just didn't stop.  
"It didn't take me long to figure out why we continued to argue. It was because you weren't there to stop us…you weren't there to keep us together. Nudge, don't you see? T.G. didn't do this!" He spun me around and looked me directly in the eye. "You did. This was all you. Everything! As T.G. said, _'I_ _am not in control of what does and doesn't get lost in time._' He means you! Nudge, you're the only one who can fix this!"

Me? I…I did this? I messed up the time stream? I didn't know whether to be happy or sad that the Flock needed me this much and couldn't live without me. But knowing this didn't fix anything. I clenched my fists. If I was the one to start this mess, I was going to finish it.

The sound of clapping entered my subconscious and I spun around to face T.G. again, who was clapping very slowly in a sort of mocking way.

"Well done, well done. I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out that this was all your fault. Now, I bet that I can tell you exactly how all of this is going to end. You two will realise that there's no way for you to fix this, and then you hand over the mechanism to me."

I took a quick step back and clutched the clock tighter to my chest. "No. There's no way that you're getting this! I'm fixing the time stream and I'm making sure that you're no longer a part of it!"

"Well fine, my dear," T.G. said, cracking his knuckles. "Suit yourself." Then he charged right at us.

But, not in the way that you would expect.

From the distance between us, a _normal _person would reach us within about five seconds. But T.G. reached us in less than a millisecond. He was superfast.

Reacting swiftly, Gazzy clenched his fist and then swung it at his face, only missing by half an inch and falling forward slightly from the momentum.

"Missed me," T.G. said excitedly as if he were playing some game with us and then easily knocked Gazzy off his feet and onto the hard floor.

Thinking quickly, I threw the clock to Gazzy and he somehow managed to catch it while lying on his back. Then, without giving him time to react, I took a swing at T.G. and just managed to hit him in the nose, making him stagger.

"Why you little…" he muttered angrily before disappearing in a blur and punching me hard in the face. I was down on the floor next to Gazzy before we even had time to have a decent fight.

T.G. laughed almost manically as he advanced on us. "Did you really think that two kids could beat the master of time? You were doomed from the beginning!" He walked towards us, his body looming over the top of us like a tower just waiting to fall and crush our bodies. "You never stood a chance. And now, you're going to pay for the trouble you've caused me!"

This was it…it was all over…

"Don't count on it!"

Gazzy and I looked up quickly to see a girl fly through the window, sending glass flying everywhere beneath her. Then, she swiftly manoeuvred herself and landed on T.G.'s back, knocking the wind out of him. Pretty soon, he joined us on the floor.

I smiled up gratefully at the girl, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Max!"

"Didn't think that I was going to let you two have all the fun, did you?"

* * *

**Iggy: That is one annoying cliffie...I DON'T EVEN COME IN YET!**

**Me: -facepalm- Thanks for giving that away...**

**Iggy: Anytime.**

**Me: Okay, 'for the love of Iggy', here are your questions and answers!**

_**1. Would you ever wear a rainbow belt and walk in a gay-pride parade for the fun of it?**_  
**  
Iggy: ...no way in hell that I'd do that. I already get mocked by Bell's boyfriend and Fang for being gay WHEN I'M NOT! I don't need that on my back too!**

**2. would you ever consider taking me to bird-kid prom?(if ella got sick and couldn't come of course, so i'm like second pick...)**  
**  
Iggy: Uh...there's a Prom for birdkids? Well, uh, maybe...I guess...I don't really know you...yeah...I don't know. But...there's a prom for birdkids? Seriously?**

**Me: -facepalm- Way to focus on the main point, Iggy.**

_3. are you more jealous of Fang's fangirls or his ability to style his hair without using his hands? (aka: that flip thing that all the guys in my homeroom do so they look like they have a neck spasm every 30 seconds)_

**Iggy: -thinks- definitely the hair flip thing. -attemps to flip his hair- -fails-**

**Me: -facepalm- I know a lot of guys who do that! But anyway, Iggy's really jealous of the fangirls. He's just too proud to admit it.**

**Iggy: AM NOT!**

**Me: ARE TOO TIMES INFINITY TIMES ZEED!**

**Iggy: ...damn...**

**Me: :D**

**Anyway, R&R? I hope you guys liked the chapter. I liked writing it :)**

**-Bell and Ig.**


	23. Chapter 23: Time for you to go

**Me: Alright, this is a really long chapter so I'll just cut to the chase.**

**Iggy: Good.**

**Me: I didn't want to split this into three parts, so this is the second last chapter. part two of the previous one. I hope you guys like it. Just one more chapter to go and it will all be over -sniffle-**

* * *

_I smiled up gratefully at the girl, tears forming in the corners of my eyes._

_"Max!"_

_"Didn't think that I was going to let you two have all the fun, did you?"_

"Good to see you, Max," Gazzy said, helping me to my feet and handing me the clock again.

"You too," she replied sadly, walking over and wrapping him in a tight hug.

"Ugh," T.G. groaned, standing shakily on his feet.

Max quickly unravelled herself from Gazzy's embrace and turned to face her old enemy. "That last stunt was for ruining my life. And this," she said, throwing another punch at his nose, "is for taking Nudge away from me!"

He fell to the floor again, but somehow managed to quickly get back onto his feet pretty quickly. I didn't understand how he could do that after a birdkid had fallen out of the sky and near crushed him. "This is none of your concern, Maximum!" He shouted, and as he raised his hands as a strong wind blew out from behind him, knocking a few clocks off walls and sending us flying towards the back of the room. I felt my body hit the hard concrete of the back wall and I was blinded by pain.

"Do you really think that this is all about you?" He sneered at Max. "Well, it's not. We figured that if we could just get Nudge away from your Flock, to a place where you could _never _find her, well, then you'd go your separate ways. It was, and still is, an excellent plan."

I blinked a few times to fix my blurry vision that had been caused by my head hitting the wall and looked over towards Gazzy and Max. Gazzy was crouched on top of another one of the larger clocks in the room, trying to get his bearings again, while Max was still getting untangled from the rubble. She spat blood off to the side. "You bastard," she yelled at T.G. "You freaking bastard."

T.G. grinned, but that didn't last long.

"You planned this?" Someone shouted darkly from the doorway. I glanced up to see Iggy standing there, his face red with rage and his unseeing eyes trained on T.G. "You sickos set all of this up? This is your fault that I ended up in an apartment all by myself without being to go anywhere without that stupid cane for six years?"

"Yes. Brilliant don't you think?"

Alright, T.G. might be the master of time, but is he smart enough to know not to mess with a pissed off Iggy? Obviously not.

"ARGH!" Iggy yelled in frustration and hurled himself at T.G. T.G. managed to quickly sidestep out of the furious birdkids path, but Iggy was concentrating so hard on the sounds around him that he changed course just in time, connecting his fist with T.G.'s stomach. The man's breath left with an 'oof' and he fell back, landing on his strong hands and pushing off the ground to skilfully perform a handspring. Iggy, breathing hard, got into fighting stance, listening intently, the way that he used to when he was fourteen.

"I see that you finally got your bearings again, Iggy," T.G. taunted as he circled Iggy as if he were Lion and the Iggy the prey. The rest of us stood stone still, waiting for Iggy to make the next move.

"We didn't think there was any hope of you leaving your apartment…or being any use at all for that matter," T.G. added cruelly and I winced. Iggy on the other hand, somehow kept his cool.

"Well, Nudge helped with that," he said with a slight smile that I knew to be aimed at me.

"Hmph," T.G. grunted, obviously upset that he couldn't get on Iggy's nerves, but continued to silently circle him. "That may be so, but I highly doubt that you know where I am now…or now…or now," he mocked as he speedily moved from place to place around Iggy so fast that all I could make out was a blur. And I have raptor vision!

Not taking the bait and still staying calm, Iggy's eyes were directed at the floor, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Come on, come on," I could barely hear Max murmur from beside me. I was so focussed on the scene that was playing out in front of me that I didn't notice that she'd moved to stand by me.

Suddenly, Iggy's fist snapped out to the right and I gasped as the blur stopped moving and T.G appeared on the floor at Iggy's feet.

"I think I found you," Iggy said with a proud smile.

From the floor, T.G. popped his shoulder back into place and sat up. "I guess you did find me. But I'm over playing fair now."

Max Gazzy and I watched in astonishment as T.G. and Iggy began to speak gibberish, then T.G. ran _backwards _around Iggy really quickly so that he was a blur and then they were back to their starting positions, with Iggy in the doorway.

T.G. had rewound time.

_Oh, God._

"ARGH!" Iggy called in frustration and he began to run towards T.G…for the second time.

"Iggy! No!" I shouted running forwards and knocking T.G. out of the way. Iggy stopped running in confusion and rubbed his eyes. "Ugh…déjà vu," he muttered.

Meanwhile, T.G. and I were on the floor and I was punching him hard in the face continuously. That is, until his hand shot up from under me and grabbed hold of my neck.

"Nudge!" I heard Max shout desperately.

I opened my mouth wide and found that I was trying to suck in air to no avail. I clawed at the hand wrapped around my neck but I couldn't get him off.

"Give me the mechanism," T.G. threatened as he sat up, still holding me tight in his grasp, "or I will kill her."

"Fine!" Max screamed desperately. "Just let her go!"

And just as I was starting to see in tunnel vision, the pressure around my neck released and T.G. grunted in pain, falling to the side. I doubled over, gulping in air and clutching a hand to my aching neck as precious oxygen filled my lungs. I was then aware of an arm wrapped around my shoulder and I looked up.

"Fang," I croaked out, leaning against him as he helped me up and guided me away from T.G. "You saved my life."

Fang chuckled. "Well, considering that you tried to save mine, I owed you anyway."

I smiled and coughed a bit, still trying to get more air into my lungs. "Where're Max, Gazzy and Iggy?"

"Fang! Nudge! Over here, quickly!" I looked up to see Iggy and Gazzy behind the grandfather clock again. They appeared to be leaning over something and working swiftly.

"Ugh," someone behind me grunted as they were thrown into the wall. I glanced over my shoulder to see Max in tight arm to arm combat with T.G. She was keeping him busy so that Gazzy and Iggy could work on whatever it was.

Fang and I got over there pretty quickly and I removed my arm from Fang's shoulder as the two of us kneeled down to see what they were working on.

"Guys, what are you doing to the clock?" I asked confused, staring as they fiddled with it. "You better not be turning it into a bomb! That's the only way that I can get back to the past and fix this mess that I started and-"

"We're not building a bomb!" Gazzy said quickly, replacing the clock face with another one that he'd found on a different clock. "We're _fixing _the clock thing so we can get you home before something bad happens." We heard Max cry out in the background. "I don't know how much longer she can hold him off."

All of a sudden, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I whirred around, expecting it to be T.G., but found a girl about my age standing there, he golden curls rolling down her back.

"Angel!" I cried, wrapping her in a hug and she hugged me back tight.

"It's go good to see you again, Nudge. I can't believe that I couldn't recognise you before…"

I pulled away from the hug. "It's okay. You're here now…you all are…"

Realisation dawned on me. Everyone was here. The whole flock. We were together again.

Angel smiled. "Yes, Nudge," she said, obviously reading my thoughts. "All it took was you to show up and here we are. All of us, together."

I felt so incredibly happy…until Max's scream bounced off the walls of the room.

Time seemed to almost completely stop around us as everyone ceased what they were doing and turned to the two who were fighting.

"Max!" Fang yelled, getting up and quickly running over to her bleeding form without a second thought.

She groaned in T.G.'s grasp and then fell to the ground in a heap at his feet, and I heard myself gasp. _No, not Max, please not Max._

I shook my head. _Snap out of it, Nudge. You can fix this if the clock gets fixed. Focus on that. Fang can look after Max._

I turned on my heels and bent down with Gaz and Ig as T.G. let out an evil laugh and said something to Fang as he held Max in his arms.

"How's it coming guys?" I asked desperately, watching them work.

"Almost done, just need a minute," Iggy muttered as he fixed up a wire.

"Uh, guys?" We all snapped our heads to look at Angel. "We don't have a minute."

She was right. T.G. was walking over towards us at a normal speed. He looked pretty darn angry too.

"I'll keep him busy," Angel said darting over to T.G. "Just hurry it up!"

"Gotcha!" Gazzy shouted, trying to pick up the pace.

I watched the two boys work, glancing over my shoulder every now and again to make sure that Angel was keeping T.G. occupied. Eventually, Fang joined in the fight too after he left Max out of the way behind one of the clocks.

"Done!" Gazzy finally exclaimed, sitting the clock up and we watched as the second hand began to make the slow, rhythmic ticking sound that seemed to surround us. I picked it up in my hands and looked at it, biting my lip.

"You do know how to work it, don't you?" Iggy asked, picking up on my uncertainty.

"Uh…" I knew that lying wasn't going to help our situation. We needed to get this right. "No."

The two boys stood on either side of me and Iggy held the clock steady while Gazzy began to hit buttons I didn't know were there and fiddled with the position of the hands.

"Guys! Move it already!" Angel screamed as she ducked and then was rewarded with a punch in the face anyway. Fang jumped up and sent a hard side-kick into T.G.'s head and snapped his head to the side, but he simply cracked his neck and kept on fighting. He was almost unstoppable.

"Here Nudge!" Iggy said quickly, shoving the clock back into my hands. "Just, think of the time that you want to go back to and hold it out in front of you."

Okay. I held the clock out before me, and focussed heavily on the time that I wanted to go back to. But nothing happened.

I looked desperately at the boys. They looked panicked. They obviously thought that it would work.

I turned back and looked at the battle being played out between Fang, Angel and T.G. I stared carefully at T.G. as he fought and saw something that I hadn't noticed before. He was radiating a strange glow that was only noticeable when he was standing next to someone else. My eyes narrowed slightly as I looked back down at the clock in my hands and saw that it had the same glow…

T.G. was part of the clock.

I suddenly knew what I had to do, but I had to do it quickly.

I turned back to the boys. "Turn it off," I said shortly.

"What?" They cried in unison as if the idea sounded completely and totally crazy.

"Turn it off." I repeated. "Just do it."

Reluctantly, Gazzy took the device from me and flicked the switch, shutting it off. I looked back at T.G. and smiled to myself when his glow died. While the boys were fixing the clock, they were also building up his power and making him stronger – almost invincible. But, now that his power source was switched off, he was just a normal man.

"Put the clock behind the grandfather clock and come help Angel and Fang," I ordered. "If we defeat T.G., we can use the clock and I can go home."

As soon as the three of us charged into battle, the tables turned. There was no way that T.G. could take on all five of us at once and he was down on the floor pretty quickly, panting heavily and coughing up blood.

"You can't defeat me," he gasped angrily, wiping the blood on his sleeve as the flock made a circle around his form. "I…am the master of…time!"

"Uh-huh," I said, making my way back over with the clock and flicking the switch. "But you're not a very good one."

I knelt down and turned the face of the clock towards him.

"What are you doing?" He grounded out angrily, glaring at me.

"Giving you a taste of your own medicine." I concentrated hard on what I wanted to do as I quickly moved the hour hand backwards with my forefinger.

"No!" T.G. screamed as he started to shrink. "No! No! NO!"

He continued to shrink until he was a teenager, then a child, then a toddler and then, finally, a mere infant, crying loudly and waving upset fists in the air.

I patted the baby's head and stood up, holding the clock tightly in my hands and glancing around the flock.

"Nudge, over there," Angel said, pointing over at Fang who was running over towards Max. The rest of us followed.

"Please don't die," Fang murmured to her as he stroked hair off her forehead.

I looked down sadly at them. So many horrible things were happening at once that I couldn't keep up...

"Nudge, you've really got to go now," Iggy said urgently, starting to set the clock up again after I'd messed with the hands.

"Is this how it's really meant to be?" I suddenly ask, meeting all of their eyes in turn. "Are we…is it meant to end like this?"

The Flock looked down and there was a long silence between us that seemed to drag on. Eventually, Gazzy walked over to me, resting his hands on my shoulders. "No, Nudge. I think that…as long as you're there to keep us together, things won't end up like this. We'll stay together. I promise."

I smiled sadly at his words and hugged him tight.

"Alright, Nudge, you're all set."

I let Gazzy go and took the clock from Iggy, smiling at everyone.

"Good luck, Nudge," Max croaked from the corner and Fang winked at me.

I held the clock out and concentrated on my time. Amazingly, a portal opened.

"See you guys later…uh, earlier," I corrected and they offered sad smiles.

Then, with one last look over my shoulder, I jumped through the portal.

* * *

**Me: So...yeah, that's basically what happens :)**

**Iggy: Really? I had no idea.**

**Me: -glares- One more chapter left, guys.**

**R&R?**

**-Bell and Ig**


	24. Chapter 24: The end

**Me: FINALLY! This is the final chapter! Sorry it took so long...let's just blame it on writers block, school and exams.**

**Iggy: Like you have for every other story**

**Me: Well, we have another exam tomorrow and I need to get some sleep...so let's wrap this up. Thanks everyone for reading this! It's been a blast to write and I'm gonna miss it :(**

**Iggy: But you have plenty of other stuff to work on.**

**Me: Exactly. Enjoy the last chapter, guys! :)**

I tumbled through time, turning over and over, going further and further back. I didn't know how long it took me but eventually I heard Max shout my name urgently and I spread my wings, readying myself. Then, before I had time to register what was happening or where I was, I appeared behind the flock, who were all looking around for me and calling my name. I clutched the clock to my chest and smiled, tears falling down my cheeks.

"Miss me?"

They all whirled around and Max smiled relief. "Not really, you were gone about thirty seconds."

Shoving the clock into Gazzy's hands and telling him not to touch anything on it, I flew over to Max and surprised her by hugging her tight. "It feels like a lot longer than that."

_**…**_

When I had finished my tale, I was met with wide eyes and stunned silence between everyone. Iggy and Gazzy who had been completely obsessed with the clock and previously couldn't keep their hands off it had discarded it off to the side, not daring to touch it in case something might happen if they did. Fang, who hardly ever showed emotion gave me wide eyes and his mouth was parted slightly in shock. When he noticed I was looking at him, he covered it up and looked away. Max didn't seem like she could believe it and she kept looking around at the flock just to make sure that we were all still the same. And Angel, who was six years old once more, was staring at the ground, her face twisted in thought. No one said anything for ages, but eventually it was Iggy who broke the silence.

"I'm going to be a druggie? That is not cool!"

I saw Max roll her eyes.

"What?" Iggy asked incredulously. "I just don't think that it's the best story that I've ever heard."

"But it's one of the most important," Max said, standing up. "Don't you get it? If it weren't for Nudge…well, if it weren't for Nudge we wouldn't be together anymore. We need everyone for this to work. And lately it seems that we're not all together with our decisions. We can't keep fighting like we have been or it's not going to end well."

I smiled at Max and she winked at me. "And I think it's about time that we realised how important Nudge is to the Flock. I don't know what we'd do without her…actually, I do, and I don't like the outcome. So, let's just end this already. Agreed?" She held out her fist. I was the first one to stand up and put my fist on top of hers.

"Agreed."

The rest of the flock stood and stacked their fists on top too, all chorusing "agreed" and "okay."

"We're a family. And we won't let anything come between us. Ever," she added and everyone nodded.

"But what about that _thing,_" Iggy said in disgust, pointing at the clock and managing to miss its real place by a few inches. We still knew what he meant. "It's caused enough trouble already and it's dangerous. What can we do with it?" His question sounded almost…hopeful.

"OH! OH! OH! Can we blow it up? Please, Max!" Gazzy asked, jumping up and down and she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"No. Messing with the wiring on that thing could be dangerous. Who knows what it's capable of? Besides, I think it's up to Nudge what we do with it."

I thought for a moment before smiling. I picked it up carefully and handed it to Iggy. "Blow it up," I told him. "But use one of the bombs you've already made because Max is right and we can't go messing with something as powerful as that. I mean, I've seen what it can do and it is _scary! _Like, if it weren't for your future selves I probably would have been stuck in that time forever and ever and I hated it there! It was all foggy and cloudy and-"

"NUDGE!" Everyone seemed to shout at once. And then everyone burst into a fit of laughter.

It was good to be home.

**Me: Naaawww...so sweet**

**Iggy: But-**

**Me: Ending this now -sniffle- thanks for reading, guys :)**

**-Bell and Ig**


End file.
